


Nowhere to Run

by officialfoxsquadron



Series: fox 'verse [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars: Rebellion Era - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Assassins & Hitmen, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Coming of Age, Decapitation, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Drug Withdrawal, F/M, Flashbacks, Gen, Implied Relationships, No Sex, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Prostitution, Rape/Non-con Elements, Royalty, Slavery, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-29
Updated: 2015-08-22
Packaged: 2018-04-06 09:59:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 28
Words: 33,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4217322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/officialfoxsquadron/pseuds/officialfoxsquadron
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After discovering the return of Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker and Lottie Reynard have returned to the Alliance's new base on Hoth, a secluded, frigid planet. However, everything is not as it seems, as the two of them, along with the rest of the Fox Squadron, discover a rival assassin guild that seems to have its hands in everything, making even the base unsafe. Their presence poses a problem, as Lottie's sister faces an old demon and the Fox Squadron is forced to accept a shadowy Alliance leader into their fold. As the Rebel Alliance is slowly collapsing in on itself, Lottie and Luke become closer, pushing both of them into an uncharted territory not suited for war.<br/>Takes place six months after The Dock of the Bay until the very beginning of ESB.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a sequel to a previous work, [The Dock of the Bay.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3796810/chapters/8454679) I highly recommend you read that first to understand certain characters and situations.  
> This is an AU version of Star Wars and will therefore not follow "Legends" canon.  
> Although the Star Wars universe itself is not mine, my original characters, expanded canon, Coruscanti/Lower and original worlds are my own and my intellectual property. Taking inspiration or blatantly taking elements without my explicit permission is stealing.

Colonel Baku Mereel stood posted at the entrance of the gala, his mind wandering elsewhere as he watched the mindless stream of guests filter through the door, each with more wealth displayed ostentatiously on themselves than any he could possibly obtain. Obviously, he hoped to ascertain to the rank of General and be one of the clad military men walking in with their too-beautiful wives, but he realized that being posted as security detail didn't pose any high hopes for the future.

"Sir?" He looked up, glancing at the young private that the Empire had sent in. The boy was green and looked like he had barely even hit puberty-his skin barely fuzzy and smooth, save for a couple of scars on his face. If Mereel had it his way, he wouldn't even be in the Empire, but apparently, they needed more soldiers, so they would take scruff like this.

"What is it...uh...what's your name again, kid?"

"Azeria, sir, Private Huff Azeria, sir. I wanted to just tell you that I'm clocking out. I think Private Denan is on his way to cover for me."

"What's up, Azeria?" He looked at the boy, a small piece of curly hair peeking under his cap and brushing at his pockmarked face.

"I was just told to report in." He showed him a comm on his personal comm, a message from Mereel's commanding officer. "I think they want me to do paperwork, sir."

"Alright, go ahead. Not much is gonna happen tonight, but if you can, come back, I could use the manpower."

"Thank you sir," The boy nodded, a wide-toothed smile covering his face. "Have a good night, sir."

"Hey, you too," he called, as the boy wandered down the empty hallway toward the staff exit of the banquet hall.

As soon as the boy had made the first left turn, his sharp eyes glanced at the cameras, and with lightning speed, he darted into the small women's bathroom on the light, closing and locking the door. He quickly removed his cap, a mane of bright ginger hair falling on his shoulders, and then his entire uniform, which was baggy enough to hide his true, feminine form. The woman threw out her chest binder and reached under a waste receptacle to pull out a long, flowing dress, hastily folded, two high heeled shoes, and a thigh holster with two knives sheathed in it. She attached the holster first, and then the dress, black and leaving little to the imagination, with a pooling long neck that reached near her belly button. She folded her hands across her stomach, and reached into the left heel of her shoe to find a small bottle of lipstick. She dabbed it on and walked out barefoot, putting on her heels as she walked out of the bathroom and then strode confidently into the ballroom, accepting a drink graciously from a man who had no business being at an Imperial gala in the first place.

"You're late." Luke Skywalker turned to his partner, sipping his own champagne as he stood in borrowed dress robes.

"Oh, shut up," Lottie Reynard retorted, jamming a comlink into her ear. "You try doing a quick change into this dress. Malestrom, you heading in?" She made eye contact with a very disgruntled Jax Collins, who raised a tan finger at her slowly in an obscene gesture.

"You better tell me you got the chip," he muttered, standing guard at the door.

"Oh, I got the chip," she said, tapping a pin in her hair. "Now, we just wait for Pazzy's word."

"Gods in Heaven, Kit,  _codenames!_ " Jax's frustrated voice hissed in both of their comlinks.

"You all are so cute in that banquet." Wedge Antilles finally reported in, his condescending voice paired with the munching of some sort of food. "Make sure to bring me back something nice."

"Well, hopefully you just got my present." Pazima Reynard's melodic voice appeared on the channel. "Not only did I just kill Dipaba, but half a million of Imperial credits are coming our way."

Lottie and Luke both looked at each other in disbelief. "That's a hundred thousand each," Luke pointed out.

"And he's good at math." Pazima materialized next to Lottie, wrapping an arm around her sister, her makeup done perfectly and her hair puffing out in a curly mass. "What a keeper."

"So what do we do now?"

"Well, have fun. We're all rich, so go wild, I don't give a shit. Should I come in?" Wedge asked.

"Yeah, come on."

"Why do I get stuck at the stupid desk job?" Jax muttered.

"So how have you two fared without me?" Pazima held her sister at arm's length. "That dress is too big."

"I know, you're like a full foot taller than me," Lottie commented. "It looks good with my tat, though."

"Yeah, it shows that off nicely. Remind me, you and I need to go to-"

Luke ducked, as did the two sisters, as a blast erupted through the building, knocking the windows out as glass shards flew everywhere. The three of them crawled underneath the table, Lottie coughing from the dust.

"You okay?" Luke instinctively ran a hand through Lottie's hair. She only coughed and nodded. in reply, but quickly pulled out the knives at her thigh.

"That was not part of the plan!" Paz growled, pulling out a blaster. "That was so not part of the plan!"

"I don't think it was us," Lottie finally whispered, her eyes focused on the banquet table at the head of the room. Both Paz and Luke peeked out under the tablecloth, and Paz instantly groaned, falling back. There were masked people congregating all around the banquet, shooting blasters and yelling, killing seemingly innocents at random.

"We got a hostage situation," Paz said, pressing into her comlink. "Jax, you coming?"

"In a second," his voice said hurriedly.

"Hang tight, guys, I'm working on it," Wedge muttered from the Prophet. "Ajax, whadda we got?"

The AI aboard the Prophet began speaking, pulling up cameras and maps as Wedge stood back, arms crossed. "Four assailants in the room, sir. Association unclear. There are several windows near the Foxes."

"Yeah, but what about guys outside?"

"Unclear, sir."

"That's what I thought." Wedge pressed a button to speak into the comm frequency. "Guys, I've got a clear way out but no knowledge of the guys outside. I'm willing to bet at least a ship and a handful of others to stop people from running."

"Fuck, what do you think they want?" Lottie responded.

"Dunno. Could be the money we just stole. Or the chip," Wedge sighed audibly. "We've got a lot of possibilities. Any of them asking from money from the guests?"

Paz shook her head. "No. Not rifling through purses or anything. We got Jax, by the way." Jax had joined them a few moments prior, sliding under the table after abandoning the Imperial guards.

"Have they said anything?" Wedge asked.

"They keep shouting on about Dipaba," Lottie responded. "Shit, I think they're trying to figure out who killed him."

"Fuck," Paz muttered. "Wedge, I gotta get out of here."

"Yeah, no shit. I'm working on it." Wedge quickly typed some commands into the Prophet, pulling up footage of the outside gates. "You've got backup running from the north. I'm guessing there's more where they came from. I would say-Wait, hold on, they're bringing out the big guns."

"What?"

"I have a feeling that they're gonna just go on a murder spree until someone gives them an answer," Wedge responded. "I'm looking at thermal detonators, blaster rifles, blastcannons. They aren't just your run of the mill terrorists. Can you see any symbol on them, anything at all?"

"I'm scanning one of their profiles now," Jax replied, typing things quickly on his datapad.

"I don't see anything, but that doesn't mean this isn't a disguise," Paz responded.

"Can we do this later?" Luke finally interjected. "Someone, somewhere, saw Paz going up to that apartment, and we're all gonna die if we don't get out now."

"Yeah, we're gonna want to move," Jax said, looking first at Luke, then at the sisters, and then showed them his datapad, which had pulled up a symbol of a black circle, surrounded by a ring of rays and finally, three interjecting triangles at the very top. "These guys are Black Sun."


	2. Chapter 2

The scene in Lottie and Luke's new, shared bunkroom was almost so domestic, so peaceful, so  _friendly,_ the average living being wouldn't have guessed it was a military meeting.

Almost immediately after returning to Hoth Base from their mission, they had decided to gather in the room to discuss events. Aboard the ship, it would have been impossible; the journey to Hoth took nearly eight hours even with lightspeed, and frankly, all of them had been too tired to even think straight. Some, including Lottie and Luke, hadn't even made it back to their small quarters, choosing instead to end up accidentally passing out on a couch after trying unsuccessfully to watch a holofilm.

Currently, they were all refreshed and awake. The room itself was a bit smaller than the other three's double-bunkroom (Jax nearly screamed when he was trying to tell them he got a room all to hisself) but much cleaner and well-furnished. Pazima was sitting on Lottie's side of the room, braiding the younger girl's curly hair in an elaborate style. Her side was definitely the more decorated side, Lottie had an appropriately ballet-pink ruffly bedspread and matching pillows, a neatly decorated nightstand, and of course had a string of small pictures of her and her friends, fairy lights, and paper lanterns she had made herself. Jax was sitting in the small metal chair between the two double beds, and Luke was drinking an ale at the edge of his bed, and therefore, the small nook that he occupied. Compared to Lottie's side, his was an absolute mess. Posters of spaceships and cities hang haphazardly, his blue bedspread sprawled across the bed, unmade. Unwashed bowls and empty cans of soda and ale adorned his cluttered bedspread. He was probably the only one who was paying attention to Wedge's briefing, the others looked as if they were hearing the same boring lecture all of the teachers gave the first day of school. They remained respectfully silent, but their minds were probably elsewhere.

"Alright, well, Paz, when was the last time we even  _saw_ Black Sun?" Wedge looked up at her, still typing things at his datapad.

"Two years ago," Paz answered nonchalantly.

"Yeah. After the Clone Wars, these guys  _really_ decreased in number. Empire grew stronger, crime got lower. They basically controlled Coruscant, but then the power went to the hands of the Emperor, and blah, blah, blah, you know the rest. Anyway, the guy who is gonna  _say_ he's in charge of Black Sun is this guy." Wedge walked up to Luke, his datapad open to a publicity photo of a Falleen man. "Prince Xizor. He's not really in charge, I mean, he holds a lot of power, and besides, y'know, drug smuggling and prostitution and those sort of things he's the main source of income. And he's legitimate, the Empire tolerates him and we do too, as much as we won't admit it. No, the real man you'll want to watch out for is this guy." His hand swiped left, and Luke glanced at a photo of a dark-skinned man, with piercing brown eyes and a full beard. "This is Lorccan Elwood, he's Anzat. Don't know if you're familiar with them, but basically, they're exactly like us save their tendencies to, y'know, suck on brains and control minds and stuff. He runs day-to-day operations, and is possibly the best tactician out there.  _Everyone_ is trying to get their hands on this guy."

Luke raised his eyebrows, taking a large sip of his ale. "Yeah, but what were they doing at the banquet? I mean, you just said that you haven't seen them in two years."

"Well, they've been on Coruscant lately. You know, if Jax Collins was actually  _paying attention_ to my well-thought-out briefing, he might actually help supply an answer-"

"What? Sorry." Jax looked up from his datapad, Wedge glaring at him. "I was just editing this article so every time it mentioned Palpatine it replaced it with the phrase 'giant dickhead.'"

"I'm sorry, I must not have heard correctly, did you just hack into Imperial propaganda for  _fun?"_ Lottie raised her eyebrows at Jax, her head turning slightly so her hair didn't slip from Paz's fingers. 

"Yeah, look for my big debut tomorrow morning." He waved the datapad proudly, as Pazima muttered for Lottie to turn back around. "Anyway, I'm sorry Wedge, what were you saying?"

"You got anything as to why Black Sun should show up out of nowhere?"

"Uh, no, not really. I mean, the chip with all of the Imperial Intelligence operatives might be a thing, but I doubt even  _they_ knew about that, that took me a good three months to locate. I mean, they were shouting about Dipaba, maybe he was their target?"

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking, but it just doesn't make sense," he muttered, beginning to pace. "I mean, that's doing your work for you, y'know? It could be the money, but they never really steal, they're rich enough." Wedge huffed, placing his hands on his hips. "I got nothing."

* * *

"Did you know that the people at Black Sun have to submit a will upon application?"

Luke looked up at Lottie, who was picking at a bowl of leftover noodles later that same night, sitting across from him on her bed, her hair in a fancy Alderaani style a juxtaposition to the baggy shirt she was wearing at pajamas. Luke was still reading the report Wedge had given him after the others had left, eating dinner as well. Lottie looked up, not at all surprised by the morbid fact.

"Yeah. I had to, too, y'know. I made Paz write it for me."

"Did you leave anything for me?" Luke asked hopefully.

Lottie rolled her eyes, half of a noodle sticking out of her mouth."No, dumbass, you didn't know me when I was thirteen, or whenever we wrote it. Everything goes to Paz, or my next of kin. If you want, you can have like, a pillow or something."

"Can I inherit your swordfighting skills?"

Lottie laughed, stabbing a few noodles with a fork. "Sure. You'll have to like, cut that out in the deep recesses of my brain or something."

"I'll have to cut your hair," Luke smirked. "I think you would die if someone cut your hair."

"Eh, I'm dead, I wouldn't mind so much. It's kind of a pain in my ass anyways," The girl shrugged, still picking at her bowl.

"Why would you say that?" Luke looked at her quizzically.

"Oh, Pazzy is the only one that can make it look nice, most of the time it just looks like some sort of tropical birds' nest. You know, when the scientists were creating me, they gave me red hair because it would make me more 'physically attractive?'"

"Eww," Luke groaned, cringing. "Is that actually a thing?"

"Yeah," Lottie responded, taking his empty bowl and hers and placing them in the dishwasher. Luke could hear the self-deprecating laughter in her voice. "That's so fucked up, isn't it?"

"That's gross," Luke declared. "Really gross."

"Yeah, you think they could've focused on the face instead of the hair." Lottie checked her datapad absentmindedly.

Luke scoffed, grabbing his sketchbook from his countertop. "You get too hung up on what people think of you, Lottie."

"Do I?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, because obviously they don't-Well, you know." Luke looked down, quickly burying himself in his sketchbook.

Lottie pursed her lips into a half smile, and then fell back against her pillows. "What about you?" she asked. "You think about a will yet?"

The direct honesty of Lottie's question caught Luke off-guard. "Uh, no, not really. Maybe I should." His pencil began to trail off of his paper. "Gods, I don't even know who I'd leave anything to."

"Just say next of kin, like me. Although, in all honesty, I should change that sometime." She paused. "It's not like I'm gonna have any next of kin by that time."

"You'll have Paz," he suggested.

"Yeah, well, I'm probably gonna outlive her."

"You don't think you're gonna have a husband? Or kids?"

The question cause a small little laugh to escape from Lottie's mouth. "Oh no," she replied. "That's probably never going to happen. I mean, I would have to wait for the war to end, and even after that I would have to find someone I trust enough, and even then..." She sighed, her babbling stopped. "Do you want kids?"

"Maybe after the war's over," he responded, returning to drawing. "I haven't even really thought about it."

"Well, you've got time," Lottie replied, shrugging. "Luke, if you die, I want the sketchbook." She flopped onto the bed, turning the fairy lights by her side of the room off.

He chuckled to himself. "Deal."


	3. Interlude 1

_The ballroom that Zishweshi Nkosi was currently sipping a fine Alderaani wine in was far too formal for his taste. On his home planet, Xuhiri, the ceremony to present his sister as an adult would've been much less formal, like his. More of a party than a gathering._

_Of course, the Empire had changed that, among many other things._

_Everything seemed gilded in gold, too pretty, too perfect. An out-of-place pale Imperial chancellor was set to announce his sister's coming. Zishweshi didn't like the idea of some old man seeing his sister as she really was for the first time, in the revealing traditional robes of the Kosikova, showing off her new traditional tattoos. She may be an adult, but still, she was eighteen, for the God's sake. At home, he would've usually had that job of presenting her, or his father. Here, everything was for politics._

_"Ladies and gentlemen, will you please rise for the presentation of the Princess of the Kosikova tribe, daughter of the Chiefs Ciko and Lwandle Nkosi, named Eagle of the North, Princess Pazima Nkosi!"_

_The pale man gestured, and Zishweshi's oldest of three younger sisters strode out, her dark skin red and raw and now covered in the traditional tattoos. She wore an elegant traditional dress, flowing and colorful like a sunset. She bowed, shaking the hand of the chancellor who had announced her._

_"Too bad he's white." Sifiso Nkosi, muttered to him, her hands still clapping. "I don't think he gets the point of the whole tattoo thing."_

_"Two more years and that'd be you," he said, nudging her side, his own hands and arms covered in tattoos. "You ready?"_

_"Maybe not for that dress," she muttered. "You can almost see her butt."_

_Zishweshi hid his laughter in his hand. "Do you remember when I had my ceremony?"_

_"Yeah, you came out with your shirt off. At least I don't have to do that."_

_"What are you guys talking about?" Aphiwe, their youngest sister, edged into their conversation._

_"Nothing, Fee," Sifiso muttered, rolling her eyes._

_"Be nice," Zish scolded. "Oh, looks like she's coming over."_

_"Hey!" Pazima yelled, nearly skipping over to their table. "Look at how amazing these tats are!" She twirled, the full skirt of the dress twirling to form a cloud of fabric._

_"Dad did great," Zish said, hugging his sister tightly. "You look pretty badass."_

_"Thanks, Zish. Now, how are my girls doing?" She hugged both of her younger sisters in one great hug, the two running into her arms gladly. She held Sifiso at arms length, looking her up and down. "You ready for this, Sif?"_

_"Does it hurt?" she asked, her usual tough voice somewhat lost._

_"Like hell," she said, a bright smile on her face. "But it's so worth it, they're beautiful." She twisted, trying to look at one on her back._

_"Pazima!" Their father's booming voice carried through the hall, opening his strong arms wide. He was accompanied by his wife, always a strange pair, his mother tall and elegant and beautiful and her father strong and imposing. It was clear who Pazima took after, having the delicate features of her mother and the same sparkling eyes. "How do you feel, now that you're an adult?"_

_"Amazing, Dad," she said, hugging him tightly. "Thanks. And you too, Mom."_

_Their mother embraced her as well. "I'm so proud of you, Pazima. Finally coming into your own." Pazima smiled meekly, hanging her head. "Let's eat dinner, shall we?"_

_"Hey," Zish whispered to his sister, as she sat next to him. "Meet me after dinner, we're gonna have a real party."_

* * *

_"Where are we going?" Pazima hitched a backpack on her shoulder as she bounded in regular clothes to meet Zish on the outskirts of the party, which had turned into a rather stuffy, political party, as parties involving their parents often did._

_"I heard about this place down at Uscru. It's kind of seedy though, not a place fit for a princess."_

_"Or a prince," Paz pointed out. "What is it?"_

_"A cabaret bar," he explained, beginning to walk toward an elevator a few blocks away. Pazima hurried after him. "Maybe you'll get to sing a little."_

_"Oh." She raised her eyebrows infintesimally. "I like that idea."_

_"Much better than sitting in that stupid ballroom, anyway," he spat, paying the bellhop a few credits to take them into the lower belly of the Uscru Entertainment District, known at the best for its operas and art, at its worst for the strip clubs and brothels and gangs. "What do you think Dad is talking about now?"_

_"Probably something with that stupid Chancellor," she muttered, rubbing a raw tattoo on her arm absentmindedly. "Sometimes I rather hate being a princess."_

_"Don't say that around these people," Zish muttered. "They'd kill to be us."_

_"I don't know," Paz chuckled. "Having some old white guy stare at you in Kosikova robes isn't exactly pleasing for anyone."_

_"Yeah, well, here? We can just be normal, not royalty." Zish nodded at the bellhop as he led his sister into the lower layers of Uscru. Pazima could nearly feel the muck line her shoes. The place seemed to be in a not-quite daylight, brighter than the real world outside but none of the light really real, lit up by fluorescent lights and street lamps and storefronts. It was unnerving at first, the sheer brightness of the place._

_"Where is this bar?" she asked hesitantly._

_"Just a few blocks from here." Zish strode much more confidently than Pazima did, nearly lined with beggars and street urchins. A part of her did smile, of course. Everyone here had tattoos, they didn't look at her strangely like most nobles did. "Here it is," he pointed out._

_Pazima looked up at a tall building, the lights flashing and the music blaring from the windows. She looked down the street to see women lining up. She assumed they were prostitutes, but didn't ask, and followed her brother into the bar._

_"Two ales, please," he called to the bartender. "And get this one up at the mike, she just turned eighteen."_

_"Zish," Paz scolded. "That's quite alright."_

_"You sing?" The woman behind the bar looked at her, impressed. Paz was instantly struck-she was both pretty and sexy, pairing a low-cut top with doe eyes and blond hair._

_"A little," she acknowledged, taking the ale gratefully. "I'm not very good."_

_"That's alright, we get shite people in here all the time." The woman wiped her hands on a cloth. "What's your name?"_

_"Pazima. What's yours?"_

_"Natalia. I'm assuming this is your boyfriend?" She cocked her head to Zishweshi, and both of them laughed awkwardly._

_"Oh, no no no," Pazima clarified, shaking her head. "No, this is my brother, Zish."_

_"Oh! I didn't know you had a sister, Z."_

_"Z?" Pazima mouthed to Zishweshe, turning an uncharacteristic shade of red._

_"Oh, you didn't know?" Natalia chuckled lightly, grabbing her own ale. "Your brother comes here quite a lot. Enjoys the company of Helina quite a bit."_

_"Nat," Zish groaned, as the woman snickered at him._

_"What's Helina?" Paz asked innocently, only causing Natalia to laugh more._

_"It's the brothel, down the street. Not that bad of a place, actually," she commented, clapping her hands. "If I didn't have this gig it wouldn't be all that bad, you know, work-wise. And they're pretty good to a lot of the kids that end up here."_

_"Really? So, they're all literally hookers with a heart of gold," Paz deadpanned. Natalia threw her head back in laughter._

_"You could say that. C'mon, Paz, give us a few bars."_

_"Get me drunk enough and I just might," she replied, giving Natalia a flirty smile._

* * *

_Later that night, Natalia and Zish walked a stumbling Pazima back to the elevator, the latter giggling uncontrollably._

_"You know, Paz, you're not all bad. Come back same time next week and I'll take you to a show," Natalia said, her hands on her hips. "Alone. I don't need your brother cockblocking me."_

_"Hey, this is my sister we're talking about here," Zish commented, stepping into the elevator._

_"Come with us," Paz slurred._

_"Oh, no," Natalia threw her hands up in protest. "No, this is where I leave you. I'd stick out like a sore thumb out there."_

_"Night, Nat," Zish said, the elevator doors closing on the blonde as the siblings ascended into the world above. Zish straightened his robes and paid the bellhop extra to keep silent, making their way back to the royal apartments._

_He had no desire of returning to that party, and he suspected Pazima didn't either._


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rosalie Seeker does not belong to me! She is a creation of [LikeMarionettes](http://archiveofourown.org/users/LikeMarionettes) and used with permission. Check out her page if you would like to know more of her backstory!

Luke Skywalker had known the Reynard sisters for over a year, and he still thought that they were the most obvious assassins you could come accross.

He picked out both of them easily in the crowded briefing room, filled with all of the members of the Rogue Squadron. Pazima was surrounded by a usual cloud of admirers, male and female, but only really paying attention to Wedge Antilles. Lottie was on the outskirts of this whole ordeal, surrounded by a usual cloud of cigarra smoke and a water bottle that Luke had long suspected was really filled with vodka, but as of yet went unconfirmed.

Needless to say, Luke crash-landed next to his redheaded roommate, bumping into her side and making her violently cough out her smoke.

"Fuck you," she swore, still coughing as Luke was doubled over laughing. "A week off and  _this_ is the greeting I get?"

"When were you gonna tell me you got back?"

"Never," Lottie deadpanned. "Look at what I got." She lifted up her mass of hair to reveal a new, red and raw tattoo, a sword at the back of her neck. "Pretty badass, right?" Luke could see her grin even through the red curtain of hair.

"Yeah, it looks cool. Did it hurt?"

"More than the last one. It's right on your spine, too.." Her hand unnaturally creeped around her back to trace the tattoo.

Luke recoiled from the girl immediately, as her hands dropped and she started giggling. " _Kriff,_ Lottie, you look like you're getting exorcised!"

"Sorry, I forgot you've never seen me do that. I can douch my shoulder with my toe-"

"Ew, Lottie!" She continued mocking his disgust.

"Hey, when did you come back?" Jax Collins strode up, sitting in front of both.

"Did you know she could do that?" Luke jammed his finger at Lottie, whose foot was now all the way round.

"Oh, yeah? That. It's real sexy."

Luke blinked rapidly. "No, it's actually a bit disturbing."

"Nah, I've seen it get the guys going. Y'know, down there?" Jax lewdly pointed at his crotch as Luke glared, and Lottie was happily content looking like a pretxel.

"Oh, did she get possessed again?" Wedge walked over, looking every bit the disappointed parent as he placed his hands on his hips. Out of nowhere, however, he started chanting in some gibberish and throwing his hands around, as Lottie returned to a normal position, swatting his hands away.

"That is so racist," she scolded, glaring at Wedge.

"Oh please, honey. Did you know Lottie believes in voodoo?"

"I do not!" Lottie protested. "I just think there's some shit we can't ex-"

"BRRRAAAASSSS!" Wes Janson stood up on the table, calling out like a wildman.

"Oh, fuck, everyone be cool," Lottie hissed, as she crossed her legs and posed as if she was in a picture.

"Guys-um, what are you-" Luke was lost as Wedge and Jax sat and placed their arms around each other, smiling unnaturally wide.

"Shit, the brass are coming?" Pazima had finally joined them, but instead of sitting down, laid across all four of them face first, causing all of them to break pose and laugh uncontrollably.

"Paz, your face is in my vagina," Lottie muttered, causing renewed silent mirth.

Princess Leia Organa walked in, clad in her trademark white, and immediately stopped in her tracks at the sight of the five members of the Fox Squadron, Pazima laying on her side with her face propped up on her elbow as if nothing was unusual.

"Do I even  _want_ to know?" she asked helplessly, as Luke hid his face from her.

"I know  _none of you,_ " he grunted. Pazima rolled off all of them and sat next to her sister, as Leia huffed and continued to speak.

"Before I begin, I'd like to introduce you all to General Rosalie Seeker. General Seeker should recieve your utmost respect, as she was one of the founding members of the Alliance. After taking some time off to raise her children, has returned to active duty."

Leia gestured to a woman none of them had seen sitting quietly in the back. All eyes turned as she stood confidently, nodding slightly as she gazed around the room. Her age was hard to tell, she looked altogether youthful save for a few worry lines and a long white plait. She dressed in robes of purple and blue and of fabrics royals would wear. Lottie instantly raised her eyebrows at Luke, clapping along with the other Rogue Squadron members to save face. He always had the distinct feeling that Lottie, inherently, distrusted anyone who even looked rich.

"Please, resume." General Seeker spoke in clear, Core World tones. "I'm only here to observe."

"Real posh, isn't she?" Lottie whispered, eyeing General Seeker suspiciously.

"I don't know," Luke responded. "She doesn't seem all bad."

Lottie shrugged, sensing Luke didn't want to talk anymore, and rested her head in her hands, forcing herself to pay attention to Leia's briefing.

Later, Wedge would acknowledge that Lottie was onto something, as Rosalie Seeker didn't take her eyes off of the five members of the Fox Squadron for the duration of the briefing.


	5. Chapter 5

The setting of Luke and Lottie's room was one he had grown accustomed to, one he even enjoyed. Jax and Luke sat on opposite sides of his bed, Jax breaking into Mereel's data chip while Luke wrote up a report on the Rogue Squadron's latest mission, a small operation that took out an Imperial base, thanks to just the base layer of data from the chip. 

"Do you wanna bet on the traitor?" Jax said conversationally. "Five credits it's that guy that grabbed Paz's ass at the debriefing."

Luke shook his head, clucking his tongue. "You can't bet on everything, Jax."

"Oh, you're no fun. Alright, I bet it's Madine. I don't trust that beard."

Luke snorted, the image of General Crix Madine popping up in his head. "Yeah, it is pretty stupid."

"Oh, speaking of stupid, guess who's in the Empire's firewall?" Jax clapped his hands together, showing Luke his holocomputer.

"Woah, nice!" Luke leaned over his shoulder. "Anything good?"

"Ooh, they're trying to debate how to capture you, let's look at that."

At that moment, Lottie stumbled into the room and flounced face-first on her bed, letting out a loud groan.

"How was work?" Luke asked, glancing over Jax's computer.

"'Orrible. We had to perform a c-section."

Both Jax and Luke drew breath. "Kara?" Jax asked, referring to a female who had gotten pregnant earlier that year. Lottie nodded, although barely perceivable as her face was smushed into the rosy frills of her comforter.

"Anyway, we're trying to figure out how they're trying to capture me," Luke said brightly.

"That's nice, honey," Lottie responded, her voice dripping in sarcasm. She got up from the bed bleary-eyed, shuffling to the kitchen unit. "What do we have for breakfast?"

"Nothing special. A few ration bars, maybe."

Lottie heaved a heavy sigh as she looked at the sink. "Luke, I told you to do the dishes," she called.

"Oh, sorry!" Luke said back, as she walked in with a ration bar half in her mouth. "I'll do that after you go to bed."

"You two are so cute," Jax commented, looking up from his holocomputer. "You're like a married couple."

"We are not!" the two protested.

"You are though! You go away for a month to some remote unknown location and come back and share a room, and look, she's nagging you. I'm not saying you're married, but-" Jax held his hands up, and resumed typing on his holocomputer.

"Oh, please. I would rather stab myself in the eye socket than marry Luke," Lottie deadpanned, rubbing at her eyes.

"Oh,  _shit!"_ Jax scoffed, as Luke rolled his eyes. "You know, I bet you guys are married on a few systems."

"No way," Lottie countered. "Not many systems have common-law."

"Yeah, but Bakura does and-oh, would you look, you only have to be living together for three months for a common-law marriage there and you guys are going on, what, six? Seven?"

"Seven," Luke said.

"Just call me Mrs. Skywalker," Lottie murmured unenthusiastically, turning in her pillow.

"Anyway, well, I just sent the list to Mothma, and it looks like we lucked out this time, I don't recognize any names."

"No offense, Jax, but I think they'd be pretty horrible spies if they used their own names," Luke pointed out.

"Wow, would you talk to the Princess like that?" Jax countered, mock-offended. "Alright, well, if-Oh shit." Jax stopped in his tracks, scrolling frantically on his holocomputer.

"What?" Luke put his datapad down, but Jax didn't hear him, glancing desperately as he typed code into the computer.

"It was there for a second," Jax mused offhandedly, still focused on his computer. "There!" he shouted.

"Keep it down," Lottie grumbled.

"Sorry, babe, but you're gonna wanna see this," Jax said, as Luke looked on.

"Yeah, what he said," Luke added.

Lottie walked over to the bed. "Yeah, what?" She placed her hand lightly on Luke's shoulder, but then her eyes widened. "Oh,  _fuck._ "

"Yeah, no shit." Jax read the man's name who had tried to send data into the chip. "That guy's low-level Black Sun."

"How much do you wanna bet Lorccan's eating brain for breakfast?" Lottie asked morbidly. "Why would he want to send information to the chip?'

"Because they're paying them," Luke said. "I saw it for a split second too, they're asking for money."

" _Fuck,_ " Lottie repeated, turning and pacing, a move that struck Luke as more Wedge than Lottie. "You know what this means, right?"

"Of course. I'm comming Paz and Wedge now," Jax muttered, tossing the datacomputer to Luke.

"Great, I'm going to bed."

"Is there Black Sun in the Rebellion?"

"Of course," Jax responded off-handedly. "Lorc's got his tentacles everywhere."

* * *

Later that same day, Wedge stood with his arms crossed in the training room of the Prophet. Paz and Jax stood in the holoscreens they often used to design weapons and pull off technical operations together, pulling up different screens and files at lightning speed. Lottie was slumped at the far corner of the room, a mug of tea in her hand, and Luke stood between her and Wedge.

"Alright, let's think of some suspects." Wedge began, clapping his hands. "Who would rat on us for money?"

"Madine," Luke suggested. "He's an Imperial defector, he could be bluffing."

"Too obvious for Sun, but then again, they could be fooling us. Pull it up anyways," Wedge said, motioning to the two in the middle of the holocircle.

"If you don't mind, I think that I'drin Baelthor may be a candidate," Ajax interjected. "He's a recent recruit, very close to the command in a short period of time. It could mean anything, or nothing."

"Thanks, Ajax, that's good. What about you, Lottie, you got anything?"

"I just pulled a fetus out of a woman's uterus, what the fuck do you think?"

"Alright," Wedge huffed, turning to Pazima and Jax.

"We've created an algorithm," Paz said, as Jax stepped back, stroking his chin and eyeing the screen. "It should rule out any obvious no-gos, but the thing is, it really could be anybody." Paz shrugged. "Out of about thirty thousand Rebel troops, not even counting registered, we've narrowed it down to fifteen possible."

"Thousand?!" Luke raised his eyebrows.

Paz nodded, giving him a sad look. "We're fucked, basically. Five of us against fifteen thousand of them?"

"Did they buy out all of Black Sun, though?" Luke asked, stepping closer to them. "I mean, that must've been at least a billion credits."

"Could be more, but they've been trying to buy them out for years. All I know is that some pimp on the streets is not contacting the Empire unless they're kissing Lorccan's ass."

"He was a pimp?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, I looked him up. Lottie, wanna take him out when you've recovered from the miracle of birth by c-section?"

"Sure," she muttered, getting up slowly. "What I'm getting from this is we've got nowhere to run, pretty much."

"If you're going to be that cliche, yes," Jax confirmed. "Any of the Black Sun members could be in the Rebellion. We're running a facial cross-check now, but against both the Rebel database, Imperial Intelligence and Black Sun, that could take months."

"Black Sun isn't even a complete database," Paz said. "We're trying to hack into the whole thing now, but their security is-" She whistled. "We could get five people working on it and it would still take a while."

Lottie sighed in defeating, laying face-up on the ground. "We're so fucked," she groaned. "And Luke, you're not allowed to be all cheery chipper optimistic. Right, Wedge?"

"Wow, those were some big words, Lottie," he mocked, as she flipped him off from her laying position. "So what's your guys' advice?" Wedge asked, turning to the two in the middle. "This is beyond me."

"Until we know for sure, we can't trust anyone. Even less than usual. Usually base is safe, but until we find them," Paz huffed, sipping her caf. "Lie a lot."

"Brave new world," Wedge remarked, turning and exiting the Prophet. "You two coming?"

"Did you know they're married?" Jax called out excitedly, pointing at Luke and Lottie. Both of them rolled their eyes, a joint expression they had a lot of practice with these days.

"Yeah, real cute. Come on, you two. We have people to lie to."


	6. Interlude 2

_Pazima twitched nervously in the elevator, fiddling with a bauble on her purse. She had spent nearly three hours picking out everything she was wearing. She wanted to look nice, but not too nice (it was the slums, after all), tough, but not intimidating, and overall pretty. She tried putting relaxer into her curly, kinky hair, but to no avail. She had her mother braid it into elaborate cornrows before she went out, but quickly tucked them into a ponytail. She didn't know if people even had cornrows in the slums. This was all so foreign and new to her._

_She felt the knots in her stomach tighten as the elevator kept plummeting, the dark of the upper levels fading into the permanent semi-brightness of the lower levels, advertisements and shop windows lighting up the streets in a million colors of a fluorescent rainbow. Pazima glanced quickly to the bellhop, but then looked down, tapping her toes. A million questions ran through her mind-what if Natalia didn't like her? What if this was all some elaborate joke to steal a rich girls' money?_

_"This is you," the bellhop announced, Pazima looking up in mild shock._

_"Thank you," she responded, and handed him a five-credit piece. She walked halfway out into the street, and nearly jumped when she saw Natalia leaning against a railing, smirking. Her cropped blond hair complemented the red dress she was wearing. It looked a bit worn, but pretty nonetheless._

_"I didn't think you would show up," Natalia said, extending a hand. "You look nice."_

_"Thanks, so do you," Paz responded, smiling slightly, taking her hand. "Where are we going?"_

_"I told you, we're seeing a show." Natalia began walking east, toward a large block of a building. "Have you ever heard of Circus Horrificus?"_

_Pazima gasped. "The gang?" she asked sharply, drawing away from the blonde._

_"Oh, Pazzy, you can't believe everything that the Empire says," she laughed. "They're actually a circus, too. And we're a bit early."_

_"But-I thought they-"_

_"The Empire hates them because they speak their own language, have their own culture, follow their own rules, I guess. They locked them up in this place," Natalia explained, nodding her head towards a large gray block, unassuming in the total landscape of Galactic City. "only because they still have power in the Empire. The entire story depresses me, really." She paused, waiting outside the entrance. "Ready?"_

_"For what?" Paz responded, but nodded.  
_

_Natalia tapped a code on the door, and gestured grandly for Paz to follow her._

_Suddenly, Pazima found herself in a bright complex, almost like a whole separate city. She couldn't believe how big this one building was, it seemed to span several city blocks. People hustled and bustled in bright clothing, all flowy and with bangles and bobs, so flashy it almost bordered on gaudy. Small stands were propped up reading things like "Fortune Teller", "Mystic", "Force and Magic." A small group of toddlers, led by a cute little girl with curly red hair and a button nose, danced to a band playing lively, festive music. all the activity surrounded a large tent, faded but still painted in bright reds and yellows, seeming to emit a music of its own, filled with people of all sorts._

_"Pretty cool, huh?" Natalia interrupted Paz's reverie. "Welcome to Circus Horrificus."_

_"It's beautiful," Paz gasped. "They live here?"_

_Natalia nodded. "Their houses are back that way." She pointed to the left. "See the kids?" She nodded to the toddlers dancing. "None of them speak Basic, not yet. They all speak their own language here."_

_"Wow," Paz marveled. "Does anyone speak Basic?"_

_"Oh yeah, don't worry," Natalia said. "C'mon, I'll pay, princess."_

_Paz entered the tent, and they found their seats, sitting at the very top of the tent. A large black oval where the performers would be was the center, and there were two opposing stands, almost all of them filled. "We're lucky we got here when we did," she said, yelling a bit over the crowd._

_"Oh yeah," Natalia responded. "Sometimes it gets real crazy. We'll see." Natalia raised a hand to a vendor running up and down the stands. "Two ales, please." The boy nodded and Natalia turned back to Paz. "So, what do you think? Different than the Imperial Palace, huh?"_

_"Yeah," Paz responded. "We never had anything like this, not even on Xuhiri. Everything is very...stuffy."_

_Natalia laughed, but quickly quieted. "The show's about to start," she whispered._

_Suddenly, the band that was outside had transitioned, and began tuning their instruments, creating a cacophony of sound, but then, it all rose into one glorious note, and Paz got chills as an organ played the same chords, in a fast, upbeat tune. A man stepped out, thin, lanky, his black hair matching his black suit, and paused dramatically in the center of the ring._

_He began singing. Pazima didn't know the words, they were in some language she didn't understand, but one by one came trapeze artists, contortionists, dancers that twirled swords, a chorus of singers, magicians, people and aliens of all sorts. Her eyes were glued on the floor, the colorful cast coming as if from her wildest dreams._

_Then, the man spoke in Basic, his voice high and nasally, but booming. "Welcome to the show, ladies and gentlemen! My name is Vincent Dorchester, and welcome, one and all, to Circus Horrificus!"_

_Natalia clapped wildly, and Paz did as well, both of them grinning at each other. There was an electricity, and it didn't end, not the whole night, and at the end, as Paz felt Natalia taking her hand, she felt an inkling of belonging that she hadn't quite felt anywhere else._


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, Rosalie Seeker-Kalar'aa belongs to [likemarionettes](http://archiveofourown.org/users/LikeMarionettes).

"So, everyone, how has the investigation gone?" Wedge Antilles sat at the breakfast table in the mess hall. The Fox Squad sat all together at the table, the reunion seeming long overdue.

"Horribly," Lottie spat, still in pajamas and her hair in messy pigtails. "I'm already paranoid about everything, Wedge, I'm not sure assigning me and Paz for this was the best idea."

"The algorithm needs some reworking," Paz said dejectedly. "Yesterday it recruited Luke as a candidate. It's been fine this whole month, but-" the girl huffed, stealing some cereal from Lottie's bowl. "We still got a long way to go."

"I got nothing on the solo mission with Han and Leia," Luke said. "I mean, I sent Jax a couple of the leads, but nothing really panned out."

"Hey, speaking of, Luke," Jax interjected, looking at the man. "How did that mission with Han and Leia go? I mean, on the Han and Leia front."

"They slept in the same bed," Luke said casually.

"Are you takin' the fuckin' piss, mate?" Lottie asked incredulously. "Did they do it?"

"Do what?" Luke asked innocently.

"You know. It."

"Sleeping?"

"No, you naive rugburn, having sex! Do I need to explain it anatomically?"

"No, I'm good," Luke said quickly.

"You two are so cute," Jax cooed. "Paz, did you know they're married?"

"So are Wedge and I, technically," Paz countered, shooting Wedge a look. "And me and you. And you and Lottie, actually."

"Ew, vaginas," Jax retorted.

"How much do you wanna bet they are gonna fuck though?" Lottie interjected, fixating her eyes at Princess Leia and Han Solo, who were bickering not-so-quietly at they're own table. "Twenty cred? I bet it'll be hate sex more than anything."

"Guys, can we not talk about this?" Luke asked.

"Oh, I forgot, still touchy-touchy about the whole Princess thing," Lottie said, putting her hands up.

"I bet it'll happen by the end of the year," Wedge commented. "Maybe less, if they're already sleeping together on missions."

"Oh, I don't know," Paz sighed. "They're both two of the most stubborn bastards I know."

"Yeah, but they've got chemistry," Wedge countered. "I give it three months."

"I swear, with them, it'll go from love to hate in like three-Heyo!" Lottie stopped talking as her comm unit buzzed, and she began reading aloud. "'Medical Officer Reynard, your presence is requested at General Seeker-Kalar'aa's office at once.' What the hell do you think that means?"

Luke shrugged. "You should probably go."

"Do you want my cereal?" Lottie asked, pushing the bowl to him.

"I'd rather actually get married to you than eat that mush they call cereal."

"Ouch, Skywalker," Lottie said, fake-offended, but then offering him a bright smile. After a pause, she turned to Jax, "Count me in for 10 cred on that Han and Leia bet you've got goin'."

"How long?"

"I'll side with Wedge. Three months. See you guys later."

* * *

Rosalie Seeker-Kalar'aa looked up from the filing unit on her desk to see Lottie Reynard, absently fiddling with a button on her cargo pants.

"Officer Reynard," she declared, putting the filing away. "Please, have a seat." She gestured to the metallic chair that sat directly across from her desk. Lottie did as instructed.

"Sorry I didn't salute, General." There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice, undetectable to most, not to Rosalie. "What's this all about? I'm not exactly," the girl shook her head, smiling slightly. "Well, I'm not very important."

"Aren't you?" Rosalie said, her dark eyebrows rising just slightly and her clear voice even-toned. "I would say you're very important, Charlotte Reynard." She turned a datapad to her, showing Lottie's full Alliance file, accessible to only those with a clearance level of twenty-seven or higher.

Lottie rolled her eyes. "I hope you're not a _complete_ idiot and shut the holorecorders off before you start flashing my file to everyone."

"They've been off since you walked through the door," Rosalie reassured Lottie calmly. "I took every precaution."

"Good. Well," Lottie said, pushing the datapad back and grinning, slumping in her chair and crossing her legs, chewing the inside of her cheek and dropping the polite facade. "Thanks for improving my self-esteem, General. So, what do you want from us?"

"I don't want anything," Rosalie said. "I want to help."

The redhead snorted. "Sorry, we're not hiring."

Rosalie chuckled slightly, shaking her head. "I don't mean to join the team. I have information. Have you heard of the organization known as Black Sun?"

"No offense, but I'm the second-most wanted criminal in the galaxy and part of an assassin guild that existed before the Clone Wars, do you  _really_ think I don't know who Black Sun is?" 

"I'm just checking, there's no need to get touchy."

"I'm an assassin, being touchy is my job."

Rosalie could not help the sigh that escaped her lips. "Listen, I have information on them. Important information."

"Why tell me?"

"There's no one I can trust in the Alliance, especially higher up." Rosalie put her hands up as Lottie abruptly rose out of the chair. "Don't worry, they're all under level twenty-seven, but I doubt that anyone else would do anything. You're, well, my last option, I suppose."

"That's kind. So what do you want? Money? Power?"

"I don't want anything. I want to help," Rosalie said sincerely.

"So you're one of those, eh? Alright. What's this bit of information you've got? Besides that some of the higher powers are little snitches." Lottie pulled out a cigarra nonchalantly, and lit it, smoking, but then coughed at Rosalie's disapproving look, and rolled her eyes, speaking sarcastically. "Sorry. Can I smoke?"

"I suppose, but I would prefer you smoke elsewhere if we meet again. Well, I don't know who is who when it comes to Black Sun and the Rebellion, but I know the Empire has had contact with them on Laertos within the last week."

"That's where Luke went with Han and Leia," Lottie said, suddenly interested as she took the datapad from Lottie, looking at the stolen footage of the base on Laertos.

"I've had my eye on this place for a while. I don't quite know what you'll find if you go, but it may be of some use to you."

"Can you transfer that footage to this comm address?" Lottie wrote down a string of numbers on the datapad. "That's the comm number of Jax Collins. We'll take a look, and see if it's worth anything."

"Thank you," Rosalie acknowledged. "If you go, make sure it's off the books. And it might get violent."

Lottie smirked as she stood to open the door, the cigarra dangling from her mouth. "I sure hope so. I'll see you around, General." She gave her a mock-salute, and strode out the door, laughing silently to herself as she kept smoking.

 


	8. Chapter 8

"So all she told you was that some base, on some planet,  _maybe_ the Imperials and Black Sun were meeting?" Luke raised his eyebrows, looking up from the sign he was making. "That's not much."

"Yeah, no shit," Lottie replied from the kitchen. "And she was so uppity. The most interesting thing she told me was that she doesn't trust any of the high ups. I mean, I don't either, but-" Lottie shrugged. "For a member of the brass to hate the brass? That's new."

"Leia doesn't like the brass," Luke pointed out.

Lottie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Still, it's interesting. Jax is gonna look into it, maybe check it out. I'm not banking on anything, it's not like Sun to screw up like this."

"Don't you think sooner rather than later?" Luke asked.

"The info, if it's there at all, will still be there after Paz's birthday." Lottie stirred the cake mix, looking at Luke. "I don't know, I just don't trust her."

Luke huffed, looking at the apartment around them. It wasn't theirs, but Paz, Jax, and Wedge's, a much bigger one that they had claimed for a surprise party. "Who do you trust?"

"Paz." Lottie paused. "And you."

"Really?" Luke smiled at her, making Lottie shake her head and roll her eyes, turning from him and pouring the mix into a bowl.

"No, dipshit, I told you about my dads because I thought you were a fucking spy."

"Well thanks, Lottie."

"Yeah, yeah, don't go getting soft on me." Lottie sighed, putting her hands on the counter. "Alright, I'm baking cake, Xuhiri nerf steaks, I've got snacks and party food. Do you think I need another dessert?"

"You could make a cobbler or something," Luke suggested. Out of nowhere, Lottie started cackling, clutching the counter as she nearly shook with laughter. "What's so funny?"

It took Lottie nearly ten minutes to form any coherent words. "The way you fucking said cobbler!" she finally said. "It was the whitest thing I've ever heard."

"That's offensive," Luke said, giving her a fake stern look. "I'm calling someone, this is domestic abuse." Every word he said, Lottie just kept laughing, so much that Luke himself joined in.

"Callin' HR on me, are ya?" she asked, after she had caught her breath.

"Yeah, this is husband abuse."

"Oh, so we're actually married now?" Lottie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, sorry, if that was...weird," Luke said after a moment. Lottie only laughed in reply.

"Luke, I hope you realize that we'll probably end up married just by common law," she replied. "Even if we marry someone else, we'll probably still live together."

Luke snorted. "'Hi honey, oh sorry, don't mind the really petulant redhead-" He laughed as a spoon collided with her head, Lottie wiping her hands on a towel.

"I wash my hands of your weirdness," she declared, a slight smile on her face. That particular smile had become a familiar one to Luke, a lopsided one paired with a purse of her lips that he never really saw unless she was joking with him, as they often did. It always made him smile, almost as an automatic reaction. It was nice seeing a smile on a face that was so often paired with a scowl.

"I'm serious though," he began. "When are you making me cobbler?"

"Shut the fuck up!" Lottie yelled, slamming a towel into his chest as the both laughed, Luke more than Lottie as he grabbed the towel from her.

"What are you two lovebirds doing in here?" Jax announced, striding through the door.

"Not each other, if that's the answer you're looking for," Lottie responded, looking at Luke one last time and returning to baking.

"Or drugs," Luke added.

"Oh, that's a shame. Well, Pazima is currently getting her nails done, thanks to me." Jax stole a bite of party food, leaning against the counter. "This party is gonna be so banging."

Luke perked, taking a bit of food for himself. "Oh, I forgot to told you guys, I think Leia invited General Seeker-Kalar'aa."

Jax spit out his chip, and Lottie fell to the ground, both of them overcome by mirth. "Dude, can you imagine?" He poked Lottie with his toe as she clutched her stomach. Lottie donned a posh accent and pushed her hair aside. still lying on the ground.

"'Oh, I can't possibly have any liquor,'" she mocked, "'it just wouldn't do with my constitution.'"

"You guys are evil," Luke said, walking away from the kitchen and hanging up the sign he had made. "Do you think Wedge is doing anything special for Paz for her birthday?"

"Oh please," Lottie snorted. "You know they're more friends with benefits than anything. Paz isn't one for serious relationships, not since I've known her. Maybe something small," she added as an afterthought. "But he's not gonna propose, if that's what you're asking."

"Luke's so cute," Jax said patronizingly. "With his marriage values."

"You're the one that insists I'm already married," Luke refuted.

"I like to dream. Get to work, you two, she'll be here soon." Jax had departed as soon as he came, taking his food with him.

* * *

"I'll have a whiskey cocktail, extra lemon, please," said a posh voice behind Lottie. She twirled in her full pink skirt to see General Seeker-Kalar'aa at the bar.

"I'm surprised you even drink," Lottie replied after a moment.

"Yes, well, after seeing this party, I'm afraid it's necessary."

"Not your speed, huh?" Lottie chuckled low in her throat. "I could have assumed. There you go."

"Thank you. How is the...investigation coming?" Rosalie sipped her drink nonchalantly.

"Good," Lottie replied. "Well, not really, we haven't come up with anything substantial, but if we find anything, I'll notify you."

"Great." Rosalie sipped her drink, and then turned to Lottie, looking to make more conversation. "How old is your sister?"

"Thirty-one," Lottie said proudly. "I know, she doesn't look it."

"How did you two meet?" Rosalie asked. Lottie seemed taken aback by the question, and hesitated, until Luke Skywalker materialized and finished it for her.

"It's classified," he said bluntly. "Or, at least, that's what she would have said."

Lottie snickered, shaking her head and pouring an ale for herself and Luke. "General Seeker-Kalar'aa, Luke Skywalker. Luke, the General."

"It's nice to meet you," Luke said politely. "I'm Lottie's roommate."

"Ah," Rosalie said, raising her eyebrows. "And how long have you two known each other?"

"About a year and a half," Lottie explained, sitting back on the bar stool. "We met before the Battle of Yavin."

"I can tell the story, if you want." Luke laughed at Lottie gave him a death glare as she handed him the ale, color rising uncharacteristically in her cheeks. "I guess not."

Rosalie sipped her drink knowingly, but kept silent. "And you've known Pazima for that long as well?"

"Yeah. You don't really see one without the other," Luke countered. He turned, however, to Lottie, who seemed distraught by something in the back of the room, behind the dancefloor. "Hey, what's going on?" he asked, his voice quieting.

"Do you see that man? Dark hair, glasses, dancing really stupid?" Luke followed her gaze and spotted a thin man, illuminated by some of the party lights, who stumbled through dance steps. He seemed happy, but then started to swat something as if it was right in front of him

"Yeah-are you sure you aren't talking about Jax?"

"Luke, shut up, I'm being serious. I think he's on deathsticks."

"How can you tell?" Rosalie asked.

"Trust me, I've seen enough of it," Lottie said ominously. "I'm gonna go take him out. I don't need that shit at this party." Lottie stormed over to the humanoid, nearly dragging him out of the door. The image itself was nearly laughable, a girl with curly hair in a bun and a full, rosy dress taking a man twice her height (well, with Lottie that wasn't hard, Luke thought) and bullying him into respecting her. Luke looked on with something like pride for a few moments but then returned to his drink.

"So," Rosalie began, a twinkle in her violet eyes, "Roommates, huh?"

Luke just laughed, and shook his head.


	9. Interlude 3

_Pazima snapped her gum and squeezed her new push up bra, trying to get the perfect look for her date with Natalia. It had been a year since their first Horrificus show, but she was intent on looking as best-and well, as sexy-as she could._

_"You look hot." Sifiso commented nonchalantly, lounging on the back of Pazima's bed, munching on a bag of chips._

_"You think so, Sif?" Pazima turned to her sister._

_"Yeah. Like, kind of trashy hot, y'know? Not princess-hot."_

_"Thanks, babe," Pazima acknowledged, stealing a few chips. "How's school going?"_

_"Boring," Sif groaned. "I wish I could be like you and just slack off of my studies and fuck some girl from the streets-" Sif laughed as Pazima shook her shoulders, only mildly angry._

_"I'm not_ slacking off, _" Pazima defended. "Nat is helping me get a singing gig."_

_"Yeah, sure,"  Sif commented, rolling her eyes. "When are you leaving?"_

_"Soon-ish. Hopefully-"_

_"Pazima?!" Her father's booming voice called from the direction of his office._

_"Comin', Dad!" Pazima called back, sharing a glance with her sister. She quickly buttoned up her top and ran to his office. "What's going on?"_

_He turned, standing up from his chair. He was a few inches shorter than Pazima in heels, but still imposing. "Please do not tell me you are going to see that girl," he said._

_"Dad! She's really nice, I promise!" Pazima protested._

_"You are a noblewoman of Xuhiri, and I will not have you-"_

_"Oh, here we go again," Pazima said, rolling her eyes and flopping down into a chair. "'Noblewoman of Xuhiri, Daughter of Kings,' blah, blah, blah. Honestly, Dad, I don't give two shits."_

_"You should start," he replied. "I am not having my daughter being seen with a woman who is so anti-Empire."_

_"It's not like the Empire actually knows who I am, Dad."_

_"Yes, they do. I had your naming ceremony with all of the top leaders, Pazima. You are one of them, so start acting like it. You are dismissed." He waved a hand toward the door._

_"Dad," Pazima said, her tone softening after a moment. "Why now? I've been seeing her for a year, and you never put up a fight until now."_

_Her father turned in his chair to face her, and motioned toward the door again. "Close it."_

_Pazima got up slowly and closed the door, giving her father a puzzled look. "Dad? What's going on?"_

_"That shouting match was for your siblings. You are to tell them that the reason you broke up with your girlfriend is because I do not want your reputation tarnished, do you understand me?"_

_Pazima huffed. "Oh, so you're still going on about-"_

_"Will you listen for a moment? What I am about to tell you you cannot repeat to anyone, do you understand?"_

_"Yes, Dad," she said hesitantly, sitting across from him._

_"Your mother and I have betrayed the Empire," her father began. "You are old enough to know this. We have connections to a small Rebellion led by the Organa family, do you remember them? You met Bail at a party a few months ago, do you remember?"_

_"Tan-skinned, mustache?" Pazima asked, getting a nod from her father in reply._

_"We've been in contact with them for over a year now. I knew about your relationship with Natalia then, but Pazima, you must end it. The Empire has started to take notice and started to ask me about it. If you don't end it, this could be for nothing."_

_Pazima sighed, rubbing her hands together. "What if I don't care about politics?" she asked after a moment. "What if I think this is all bullshit, and I love this woman?"_

_"Sometimes, we have to make tough choices, Pazima. If you won't do it for politics, do it for your family. If we are to be found out, our whole family could pay the price."_

_"Then why did you do it?" Pazima muttered. "Why did you get wrapped up in this stupid Rebellion if it's so dangerous? Just stick with the Empire and be done with it."_

_"Someday, Pazima, you will learn to not succumb to apathy for your own personal gain."_

_"But it's your fucking family," Pazima hissed. "You didn't even think about if I actually loved this person, did you? If I wanted to take the relationship seriously?"_

_"Pazima, wake up!"  her father replied, dangerously close to yelling. "The world around you is falling to pieces and you're acting like a lovestruck child! You haven't even stopped to think about what the Empire is doing, how toxic it is to the galaxy! Instead all you care about are your little circus shows. Which, by the way, you know that those people have no rights because of the Empire?"_

_Pazima rolled her eyes, but she knew her father was right. "Excuse me," she muttered, and strolled out the door, slamming it behind her._


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Rape attempt, heavy violence; skip to the second part of the chapter to avoid

"Who's great idea was this to hold top-secret Black Sun information in a bar?" Luke swirled his drink around, huffing for any sign of Jax at the side door of the Laertos dive. To be fair, a "dive" on Laertos was a far cry from Mos Eisley, but it still felt oddly familiar.

"It's a smart move, actually," Lottie mused, holding her own bottle of ale and eyeing the patrons of the bar. She leaned on the bar table, her hair falling gracefully over her shoulders as she looked at him. "The more people you have the easier it is to slip in unnoticed. Everyone's too focused on themselves to notice you."

"Wouldn't that be same in some warehouse? It seems less scary than this."

Lottie chuckled, downing her drink swiftly and motioning for another to the bartender. "The idea of drinking scares you?" Lottie raised her eyebrows, turning to him with a refreshed glass.

"The idea of  _bars_ scare me. You've never been to Mos Eisley."

"That's probably because you were talkin' with a stick up your ass." Lottie looked at him pointedly, sipping her glass.

"I don't have a stick up my ass!"

"You  _used_ to," Lottie said. "Just tip well and be friendly, Jax will be back with the data any minute. We're just backup." She sipped her drink again, and continued. "Oh, and if anyone as a dick, don't be a pussy and stand up to him?"

"Lottie, why would I be a cat?"

"You're hopeless." Lottie shook her head as Luke laughed. "You got a blaster?"

"Yeah, in my jacket."

"Don't pull it out!" Lottie slapped his jacket back. "We don't need to tell everyone that you-"

"Hey, is this guy bothering you?" A man strode up to the two of them, glaring at Luke and returning his gaze to Lottie. Luke's stomach sank as he saw the state of this man eyeing Lottie up and down. He was big and bulky, and had at least two men of the same size behind him. Luke knew she could handle herself, but there was a rapidly growing thought in his brain that he would take all three of them if that meant they wouldn't pound his best friend.

Lottie laughed politely, sitting up and holding her ale in her hand, her hazel eyes lighting up. Only Luke could have known that this wasn't really her. "Oh no," she said, pursing her lips into a smile. "We're old friends."

"You sure, honey?" The man was chewing on something, eyeing her again, his eyes focusing on the small dip in her shirt. Luke nearly reached for his blaster right there and then, but Lottie took his hand and squeezed it. "We'll take you away from him if you need it." The two cronies kept glaring at Luke, trying to get him to leave. 

"When I said good friends, I actually meant husband," Lottie said, her voice dripping with venom. She stood up, dropping Luke's hand to face him. She stood at his chest, but crossed her arms, standing tall and confident.

"I don't see a ring." The man reached out to grab Lottie's shoulder, but at somehow lightning speed, Luke grabbed it and slapped it away.

"I think it's time for you to go," Luke said, his voice growing deeper.

The bulky man laughed, and turned to his friends. Lottie grabbed Luke's hand again, and Luke knew that the terror on her face was real as she looked up to him, her eyes looking more doe-like by the second. For a split second, Luke looked at the vines on her hand, and had a horrible realization that she had probably been here before.

Luke opened her mouth to say something calming, but then a fist connected with his face, and Luke found himself hitting the ground, tasting blood in his mouth.

Lottie's shrill shriek pierced his ears, and suddenly, nothing else mattered as he fought back with the gangster who had punched him, smashing a bottle in his face and reaching for his blaster.

This time, his hand didn't shake when he put a blast straight through his head, and ran to where the other men had taken Lottie.

"Lottie!" he yelled, panic growing by the second when her orange hair was nowhere in sight. He frantically turned into a shed behind the bar, and opened the door, but to his surprise, Lottie stood panting, covered in blood and holding one of her long swords as the two men lay dead, their stomachs cut into long slits. Her hair hung in clumps above her face, and looked up at Luke with such heavy darkness, but quickly switched into one of relief.

"Luke," she sighed, running up to hug him. He realized his clothes would be stained with their blood, but he didn't care-Lottie was safe.

"Hey," he said quietly, rubbing a hand at her back as she buried her face in her shoulder. "You alright?"

Lottie separated from him and nodded. "Let's get these bodies cleaned up and comm Jax."

* * *

"I have a sinking feeling those guys were Black Sun," Jax said hopelessly, as Lottie sat on the edge of the table, sipping a hot tea. "I just decoded their algorithm, and they're all over the Alliance."

Lottie turned, rolling her knees up to her chest and sitting fully on the table. Luke rubbed his temples. "How many?" he asked, looking up at Jax.

"I'm guessing at least a thousand. They're everywhere." He shook his head. "Hey, Lottie, you alright?" Lottie looked at him, resting her head on her knees.

"I'm alright," she said, smiling at him. "What are they gonna do?"

Jax shrugged. "Lottie-if they're in the Rebellion, and we know for sure, we're fucked."

Lottie nodded. "I know. We'll make it," she said, not quite looking at Luke. "We always do."

"I'm gonna go to bed," Jax said, looking between the two of them. "Night, guys. Night, Ajax."

"Good night, Jax," Ajax said.

"Night, pal," Luke said. Lottie only nodded at him. As soon as Jax left, she turned to Luke, her head still resting on her shoulders.

"Hey," Luke whispered. He didn't know why he was whispering.

"Hey," she replied, taking his hand again. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

"I'm sorry that had to happen."

Lottie shook her hair, hiding her face in her knees. "It's alright," she said. "It just hasn't happened for a while, I'm not used to it."

"Not happened for a-Lottie." Luke put his face in his hands, rubbing his hair. "It's happened before? You don't have to-"

"Technically, no, but the first person I ever killed was a thirty-something old man who tried to rape me. There were two more attempts after that, but then I got a rep, and then it never happened again. Until now. I was eleven."

"Eleven?!" Lottie buried her head in his chest, not saying anything, no tears coming out. Luke wrapped his arms around her again, as if it was second nature.

"Yeah," she replied, her voice hoarse. "I guess you could say I'm actually a whore."

"No, you're not," Luke insisted, Lottie looking up at him. "Stop being so hard on yourself, Lot. You're my best friend, alright? Just stop saying stuff like that, you're worth more."

"Thank you," Lottie said. "No one ever denies that when I say it."

"No one ever knows what to say."

"I'm gonna go to bed," Lottie declared. "I should stop drinking tea," she said absentmindedly.

"Maybe after that you'll stop drinking." Luke said. Lottie flipped him off from the doorway.

"That's a good joke, Skywalker."

Luke laughed at the girl turning in the hallway, and took her half-full mug of tea and downed it.


	11. Chapter 11

As soon as the three of them had gotten back from Laertos, Wedge had called a meeting. To say things were awkward would be a huge understatement-Luke couldn't look at Lottie the same, not out of disgust, but out of pity. He didn't know about her past of sexual assault, and knowing that she had to go through that made him so angry that he felt he could punch through a wall. Lottie, meanwhile, was attempting to return to her normal self, but the incident at the bar, Luke assumed, weighed heavily on her.

Wedge pulled out a large tablet, causing the entire room to cringe as it made a high-pitched shriek when it made contact with the wall.

"Sorry," Wedge said absentmindedly.

"Gods, Wedge, I felt like someone just stabbed my clitoris," Lottie said sincerely, causing the entire room to laugh at her vulgar comment. It seemed to break the tension for a moment, except for General Seeker-Kalar'aa, who rolled her eyes and folded her arms in the chair she was perched in.

"Sorry," Luke said, apologizing for his friend. "You get used to it."

"Lottie, could you at least maintain some level of class when Miss Princess is here?" Jax said, eyeing the two women from the holoscreen he and Pazima were huddled over, attempting to decode the data from the datachip he had retrieved.

"Fuck you, Collins," Lottie grunted, shoveling food into her mouth.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Charlotte Reynard." Lottie mock-curtsied as Jax gestured dramatically at her. Luke grinned at the two old friends.

Pazima coughed on the holoscreen, as Lottie slung an arm around Jax's shoulder. "You alright, hon?" Lottie asked, glancing at Pazima.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I think I just got a cold," Pazima explained, quickly getting back to work.

"Sucks. Can we see what they're shipping?"

Jax shook his head. "You can just track it, but we've got shipments coming in from all over to Hoth."

"So they're here." Wedge was pacing again, crossing his arms and looking pissed as usual. "I have a feeling this was all a trap." He turned directly to Rosalie.

They had gathered in Luke and Lottie's apartment. Before they even went in, Lottie and Luke had searched the entire place twice for cameras. Rosalie had never been in the apartment before, and Luke wished she had been there for a happier circumstance.

Rosalie stood up, towering over Wedge. "I didn't mean to send you guys into a trap. If I was working with Black Sun, you all would have been dead by now."

"That's true," Lottie muttered, pulling the sleeves of her sweater over her hands. "We're so fucked."

"How much is coming in? How many operatives?"

Jax didn't look at Wedge. "Again, I can't see any figures, but it looks like up to a thousand. Maybe more. People keep coming in."

"The Rebellion will take anyone," Lottie pointed out. "Hell, they took a thirteen year old."

"We did? Who was that?" Rosalie turned to Lottie.

"Me," Lottie replied simply.

"I think they're trying to catch me," Luke said quietly, sitting precariously on the edge of his bed, head hanging down. "I wouldn't be surprised."

"Luke, they don't know who you are," Wedge sighed, opening a large tablet they brought in. 

"Well, they certainly have their eye on you after you blasted that guy in the head," Lottie said, her tone flat.

"Yeah, real smart move there, Commander Skywalker," Wedge said sarcastically. "Nice way to avoid attention."

"What the hell was i supposed to do?" Luke responded, snappier than intended. "Let Lottie get raped?"

"No," Wedge said, his voice more patient. "I'll make sure you train more for hand-to-hand combat-"

"She killed those guys too!" Luke said, standing up to face Wedge. "I'm not proud of it, but at least she's alright."

"Why are you so protective of her, huh? She can take care of herself." Wedge stepped closer to Luke.

Luke paused for a moment to think of an answer, but none that were any good came to his head. "She's my friend," he said lamely.

"She's mine too," Wedge replied. "That doesn't mean you full out shoot a guy in a bar-"

"You wouldn't? If you were there, what would you have done?!" Luke's voice was growing steadily louder, and so was Wedge's.

"Knocked him out! Put my fists up and put up a solid, real bar fight. Sometimes you have to think, Skywalker-"

"Oh, well, I'm sorry there wasn't enough time for me to extract a drawn out plan on a fucking tablet!" Wedge took a step back as soon as Luke swore.

"Damn, Skywalker, she  _is_ a bad influence on you." He crossed his arms. "It would take two seconds to think-" Both of the men flew backwards as a knife flew between them, landing on the exact point in the wall where Wedge's nose just was.

Both men turned to see Lottie with her arms crossed. "I'm fucking done," she said, adamant, stomping between them to retrieve her knife. "This is what they're trying to do. Draw us apart. First we argue over the General-" Lottie pointed her knife in Rosalie's direction, Rosalie shifting back, "-now we argue over whether Luke was right to shoot some guy in the head. I mean, you and I both know we shouldn't really discuss morals, Antilles."

"Lottie, but-"

"But nothing. They've known we exist for so long, and I guarantee this is a goal. Crushing the Rebellion, finding out Luke's identity, tearing apart the Fox Squadron piece by piece. You're a strategist, this is basic."

"Do you agree what he did was stupid?" Wedge asked, eyeing Luke and turning back to Lottie.

"I do. I think it was fucking stupid to shoot some guy when he should have known I would have them in pieces in three seconds. I also think that your dick is longer, and Luke Skywalker is a virgin, and anything fucking else you two want to compare while we're at it." Lottie scoffed, standing in the middle of the room and looking at all of them, standing and staring together. "Whether you like it or not, Rosalie got us the chip. Whether you like it or not, Luke shot a guy and he isn't a goody two-shoes anymore. The thing  _I_ don't like is that we could all die because of this. We all know that the Black Sun is out for blood, and if we're not working together, we're killing each other." Lottie huffed, lifting up her shirt and putting the knife in a holster right above her tattoo and subsequently placing her hands on her hips. "I mean, I'm going to die, and Paz is going to die-" Pazima nodded, shrugging her shoulders, "-but if we start arguing, Wedge, you all could die too. And let me tell you, if I live and he dies?" Lottie jabbed her finger at Luke, her eyes boring into Wedge and her jaw set like some sort of animal. "We both know that we fucked up."


	12. Interlude 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: slavery mention, violence, prostitution

_Pazima pushed open the door of her family's quarters, dropping her bag at the door._

_"Dad? Mom? I'm home." No response. This didn't worry Paz-her parents were often gone, off doing politics or Rebellion shit or something. "Anyone? Zish? Sif? Fee? No? Okay."_

_It had been a few months since she had broken up with Natalia, and Pazima liked an empty house. If she got sad, she could cry by herself. If she got mad, she could punch walls and no one would care._

_After the break-up, she had started to join Zishweshi in the pilot's bay, helping him repair ships. It took her mind off things, and she learned the TIE fighter quickly, and she was good at it. The last thing she was good at was singing, and look where that led her. She slumped into a seat at the kitchen table, absentmindedly eating some fruit from a bowl._

_Out of nowhere, she heard a loud crash, and the door swung wide open, the fruit slipping from Paz's fingers._

_Two stormtroopers held their blasters at her, their masks hiding their faces. Pazima held her hands up, shooting from her chair._

_"Wha-what's going on?" she stammered quickly. "I didn't do anything!"_

_"Pazima Nkosi, you are under arrest for treason against the Empire," one of the stormtroopers commanded._

_"What?!" Pazima yelled, glancing at the window, thinking of escape._   _She turned back to the soldiers. "Please, I haven't done anything-"_

_The second delivered an ultimatum. "Come with us and you'll be sent to Kessel. Resist and you will be killed."_

_"So that's where my family is," she muttered. "You sent them to the spice mines of Kessel?" No one ever lived there, she knew that. They worked you to death there, or you died from the bad water, or you died from the bad food. "Aphiwe was fucking thirteen!" She screamed, but she didn't care. Let someone hear her. "She didn't do anything!"_

_"Your parents did," the stormtrooper said coolly._

_"You bastards. You fucking bastards. I hope you rot in hell."_

_"Alright, that's it," the one muttered, and grabbed Pazima, but some part of Pazima knew that she was not going to die at Kessel. If she was going to die, she was going to die by her own terms. She twisted his arm and kneed him in the crotch. The stormtrooper keeled over, and Paz took his gun, turning to the other. He fired a shot off, but she dodged it, and landed a blast right between his eyes._

_The one that she had previously hit grabbed at her knees, but she blasted him too, until they were both dead in her apartment. She dropped the gun instantly, her hands shaking as she looked horrified at the soldiers. There was no blood, but they were dead. They were dead and she killed them and they weren't breathing and her family was all but dead too._

_She screamed, falling to her knees and covering her mouth with her knuckles. This couldn't be happening, she couldn't have killed people, she wasn't like that, her family was fine, her family was safe. She kept repeating those words over and over, clutching hopelessly at the leg of the table. This couldn't be happening, she couldn't have killed people, she wasn't like that, her family was fine, her family was safe._

_But something took over, and Pazima knew that she couldn't stay. She didn't care about the bodies, but she couldn't stay-there were probably more coming._

_She grabbed her bag and jumped out of the window onto the fire escape, but she didn't know where to go. She didn't have Natalia anymore, she didn't really have a home. She thought of the Circus complex at Lower Uscru, maybe they would take her in. She didn't speak their language and she couldn't do tricks, and she knew it was unfeasible, but she decided to go to the lower level anyway. If nothing else, there were some homeless shelters and certainly no love for the Empire. It was a good place to hide, she decided._

_She ran panting into the elevator. "Lower level of Uscru Entertainment District please," she said frantically, taking her backpack off of her shoulders._

_"You got it, sweetheart." He pressed a button and they sank, the bright light of day slowly transforming into the dark world where no one saw any light._

_Pazima wondered if she would ever see the sun again. She pushed the thought out of her head, telling herself to focus, find a place to live._

_"That's fifty cred, honey," the bellhop said, looking her up and down._

_"Yeah. Yeah." Pazima reached into her bag. That was all she had. Fifty credits. That was it._

_She gingerly pressed it into the palm of his hand and stepped out into the dark streets, trying to see any light at all. She remembered when she loved coming here, when it meant Natalia and the Circus and fun and sex and love. Now it was just the opposite._

_She walked, not sure of a direction, not quite sure where she even was, but she kept walking, kept walking, every step stomping on a thought of her father or a thought of her mother. She would wake up, she would get out of here soon._

_Her head turned suddenly, seeing a girl get out of a speeder driven by a much older man. She stopped, looking at the vine tattoos creeping up on her pelvic bone under her low cut shirt. She had a was of money in her hand. Pazima followed her as she walked right in front of her, heading into a tall building marked with vines and bearing the brand "Helina."_

_It was then she realized that she would never see her family again, she didn't have money, she didn't have a girlfriend, and she had no one left to love her. She wanted the tears to come out, but they just weren't there. Instead, she followed the girl into the pleasurehouse, rubbing the back of her neck._

_It was busier than she imagined, bustling with men buying drinks and half-naked women dancing and bending over. Pazima ignored her nauseousness and kept walking._

_"Hey," a husky voice said, turning to her. It was a girl her age in a corset, thin and pale and her eyes sunken into her face. "You're real pretty. You lookin' for a girl?" She not-so-subtly reached under Pazima's pants, but Paz yanked her hand out._

_"No," she said, looking around and dropping her voice. "I need a job."_

_The girl laughed and shook Pazima's hand. "I knew it. Come on, you can negotiate with Madame and then we'll get you tatted up. You over?"_

_"What?"_

_"You over eighteen?"_

_"Oh. Yeah."_

_"Follow me."_

_Pazima hesitated, her eyes focused on the door. A gust of wind from a speeder closed it with a bang, and Pazima's eyes grew sharply accustomed to the dark._


	13. Chapter 13

Lottie's sword was quick, hitting Luke's gracefully and disarming him in a swift motion.

"Check and mate," she said confidently, putting the long sword back in its holster with a flourish. "You've gotten better."

"One day I'll beat you," Luke said, handing her the sword back and downing water from his canteen. "You'll see."

Lottie only laughed in reply. "It is nice to have a sparring partner, though," she said, throwing her hoodie over her shoulder as they walked out of the Prophet's docking bay and into the main Rebel base. "Not many are too interested in the fine art of sword play." She said the last flew words in a posh accent, laughing to herself.

"Do you have to work today?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, I'm working the graveyard shift today-what the hell?" Lottie stopped as she saw a pilot slumped over in the abandoned hallway, spit foaming from his mouth.

"Is he dead?" Luke knelt beside Lottie as she checked his pulse. 

"No, he's alright, but I have a bad feeling about this," Lottie said. "Check his backpack for me, will you?"

"Sure," Lottie continued to examine the man as Luke ripped open his backpack, taking out a pack of sticks in a plasteel bag. "Lottie, what are these?"

"Luke, fuck, Gods, put that away!" she hissed, stuffing them into the backpack and looking frantically around the hallway. "Do you know what the hell those are?"

Luke shook his head, feeling extremely naive. "No."

"Deathsticks," she whispered. "This is bad, this is real bad." She lifted the man's hand, limp, and glanced through his comm. "This guy is Black Sun," she concluded after a moment. Without warning, she lodged a knife in a camera and then lodged another in the man's head. "Help me get rid of him and then we'll talk."

* * *

"Lottie, what the hell?" Luke said, after Lottie dropped the backpack in their room and sat on her bed with her head in her hands. "I mean, did we just disintegrate a body?"

Lottie looked down, shaking her head and running her hands through her hair. "This is so bad, so, so, bad," she muttered. "Do you realize how bad this is?"

"The fact that we're standing here with a backpack full of deathsticks? Yeah, kinda."

Lottie laughed humorlessly, but her face turned serious all of a sudden. "Luke, I'm gonna tell you something that I definitely, definitely, should not be telling you. Please,  _please,_ if you tell a  _soul-_ "

"Lot, I know," Luke said, his voice dropping to a whisper.

"Pazima-" She sighed, looking off to the wall, her eyes growing red and filled with tears. "Luke, if Pazima sees this, she could die. In the time I've known her, she's had two overdoses, and at least one before that. She'll tell you she's not addicted, but-" she shook her head again, tears spilling over. "We have to get rid of it."

"Alright, we'll get rid of it." Luke knelt in front of her, running a hand through her hair. "Got any ideas?"

"I used to deal on Coruscant, but obviously we can't show up there. Half the people in the Rebellion are so addicted, we'd be doing Black Suns' job for them. So we go off-world. We go to Corellia, Naboo, wherever. We get rid of that backpack. But we cannot tell Pazima anything."

"Okay-wait, you dealt?"

"Of course," Lottie replied, as if it were obvious. "A bitch had to make money somehow."

Luke shrugged, but got up again, pacing. "So we don't tell Paz-"

"And we don't tell Wedge, because he's going to tell Paz and that will just be a disaster. Don't tell Jax either. Luke, right now, you're the only person I can trust."

Luke huffed, turning to the bag of deathsticks sitting on his bed. "You know, I never thought in a million years that we would end up here," he said after a moment.

"Oh please, Luke. If you met me and we weren't pimping out people or selling drugs within two years, I would honestly doubt our friendship."

 


	14. Chapter 14

“Your turn.” Lottie muttered, the four knocks on their hotel room door stirring her from sleep. She stretched languidly on the cheap hotel bed, a cigarra she had barely put out returning between her fingers. “I handled the last two.”

“Lottie, I don’t think I’m exactly qualified to be selling drugs.” Luke folded his arms from the opposite side of the room, eyeing her with distaste.

“See? School isn’t everything,” Lottie replied, pulling the covers up to her chest and grabbing her datapad from the bedside table. “If I went to school, I would have never learned this all-too-valuable skill.”

“I hate you,” Luke muttered, receiving only laughter and a cloud of smoke in return.

“C’mon,” Lottie pleaded. “I’m comfy. And doing important drug-tracing research.”

“I hate you,” Luke repeated, rifling through the backpack. “How many does he want?”

“How much did he pay?”

“Three hundred.”

“Three, then.”

Luke held up the deathsticks, looking at her skeptically. “Are you quite sure-”

“Motherfucker, if you don’t sell that poor bastard those fucking drugs right motherfucking now, I will rip your spine out of your asshole and beat you to death with it.”

Luke only looked at her with disbelief. “Is that even possible?”

“Do you want to find out?” Lottie raised her eyebrows.

“Fine.”

“Do you still hate me?”

“Of course.”

Lottie rolled her eyes, not quite done with her torment yet. “Make me proud, sweetheart.”

“I might just take you up on the previous offer so this suffering can end.”

Lottie smirked, and Luke opened the door, greeted by a boy, not much more than eighteen, shaking and thin and his eyes sunken.

“What took you so long?” he grunted, fists clenched. “I knocked, like, ten minutes ago!”

“Sorry,” Luke said, but instantly looked at Lottie after he heard something like a hiss from her direction.

“Don’t fucking apologize!” she mouthed, as if it were obvious. He shook his head and turned to the boy.

“Do you have the money?” he asked, adopting a stance that was a mixture of Han and Lottie and all parts nothing that was natural to him.

The kid shoved credit pieces in his hand, glancing fervently over his shoulder. “Let’s just make this quick, okay?”

Luke gave him the drugs in return. “Have a nice day!” he said pleasantly as the kid scuttered off. Closing the door with a sigh, he turned to his partner in crime, only to see a look that Lottie should have patented by now, an amused half-smile with the cigarra still smoking in her hand.

“‘Have a nice day?’” she repeated, cocking an eyebrow.

“Oh, shut up. What are you supposed to say?”

“After you hand someone drugs? ‘Good luck kid, try not to die this time,’” Lottie supplied. “At least, that’s what you should say.” Lottie rolled her eyes, lifting her cigarra again with a slight shake to her hands, resuming typing on the datapad.

“How do you even start on that?” Luke mused, sitting on his side of the bed. “Not cigarras, deathsticks.”

“You have a shit life,” Lottie replied. “Trust me, here? And on Coruscant? Having a shit life ain’t hard.”

“So...why did...Paz start?” Luke asked tentatively. Lottie only shook her head.

“That’s not my secret to tell,” Lottie said slowly,taking her cigarra out only to groan. "There's not a trace for these types anywhere!" She shook the datapad in frustration, falling against the headboard with a smack on her head.

"You okay?" Luke asked, Lottie rubbing her head and eyeing him with distaste.

"I'm fine," she insisted. "I just don't get it. The ingredients come from Lothal, we're in Lothal. We found clients, kingpins, but no one knows who cooks these kinds of drugs."

"Why is that important again?"

"Find the dealer, you find the drug. Find the drug, you find who cooks the drug, you've found who's infiltrating Black Sun." Lottie set the datapad down, turning to Luke. "It's like no one has even seen these types of deathsticks before."

"Maybe they haven't," Luke said, getting up from the bed and a smile curling around his lips. "Maybe they haven-Lottie, what's in these deathsticks again?"

Lottie shrugged. "I can't know for sure, but the main ingredient is ioeth, which is only found here."

"How many varieties have ioeth in them?"

"A few, but only the really expensive ones."

"What if they're making a drug just for the Rebellion? A super-potent one that acts fast, is that possible?"

"Luke, you're a genius," Lottie said happily, practically toppling him over with the force of her hug. "They're not only taking out the Rebellion, they're testing a drug for street use-Luke, I could kiss you right now!"

"Don't do that, we're already sleeping in the same bed, imagine what your sister would think," Luke said.

"I won't have to, we're going home." Lottie closed her datapad hastily, throwing it into her messy duffel bag.

"Why?" Luke followed her, kneeling at the bed.

"I need Jax for this, he would be able to find out what's in it better than I can."

"But I thought you said-"

"He won't tell Paz, not if I tell him what we think. Plus, it's not like we're exactly selling out here." Lottie pointed to the mostly-full backpack. "Jax could get this thing sold on HoloNet in three seconds."

"Lottie," Luke held her shoulder, his voice quieting and slowing down. "If this drug's so bad, do you think we should be selling it? Maybe, maybe we should just keep it, not sell it-"

"And have my sister find them and overdose? Yeah, no thank you."

"How do you know that she'll-"

"You're not addicted to anything, Luke. You don't know what it's like, to need it, to have your life depend on it?" Lottie shook her head. "We need to get rid of it. Especially if they're making it to take out Rebels."


	15. Interlude 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Rape mention, drug use, needles

_Pazima lay against the bed, tears stinging her eyes as she pulled her robe across her chest._

_It had barely been seven months since she joined the brothel and yet it had not gotten easier. Her whole body was sore from a man she didn't love or know, who had paid next to nothing for fifteen minutes of her undivided attention. And worse, she couldn't even refuse. She just had to lie back, ready, willing._

_She closed her eyes and remembered her first time with Natalia, hasty, awkward, giggly. She wished desperately to see her sisters again, to tell them to only make love with someone who cares about you, to kill rather than be raped. But, of course, she would never see them again. She estimated that her family died a month ago._

_She stood on wobbly legs and poured bourbon into a glass, not bothering to look at herself in the foggy mirror opposite. She knew what she looked like-eyes surrounded by purple circles, face gaunt, wrinkles premature, makeup garish to cover everything._

_That was another thing. She wished she could teach her sisters how to do makeup, so they never looked like this. She was called the Beauty of Xuhiri once, and Gods forbid if her sisters would end up the same fate as her._

_She hummed an absent melody as she paced around the bedroom, one of the few joys left in her life. She was a good singer, always was, her voice clear and powerful. The Xuhiri prided themselves on their melodies, and Pazima would sing them as often as she could, to remind herself of home. She drank and sang, and those were her joys._

_She was interrupted by a harsh knock at the door._

_"No clients," she called. "I'm off for an hour."_

_"Not a client," a female voice responded._

_"Come in then."_

_The Twi'lek woman walked through the door, closing it quietly, clutching a musty leather bag._

_"Your voice is beautiful."_

_"Thank you," Pazima said, sitting on the end of the bed, eyeing the woman skeptically._

_"Perhaps you should sing for the clients in the lobby."_

_"As opposed to fucking them?" she asked, an uncharacteristic bite in her voice._

_The woman only laughed, beginning to open the leather bag on the table next to Pazima's bottle of whiskey.. "My sisters tell me you're still on drink. You haven't tried_ debatai  _yet."_

 _"_ Debatai?" _Pazima's tongue rejected the word, the pronunciation foreign. "What are you on about?"_

_"It's a Lower word. What it means, I'm not really sure, but that's what Horrificus calls it."_

_"Horrificus? Damn, I should have gone to them."_

_"Please, like they'd take you. They don't want to be responsible for any more people, much less someone the Empire's looking for." The Twi'lek smiled at Pazima's shocked face. "Oh, I know who you are, Pazima Reynard."_

_"What is_ debatai  _then?"_

_"Magic," she responded, tapping a needle. "You only have a little pinch, and your troubles are forgotten, like that."_

_"So it's a drug," Pazima said, crossing her arms. "No, thank you."_

_"Like your alcohol isn't a drug. At least this one works."_

_Pazima took the needle tentatively, examining it as she held it up to the light. "How does it work?"_

_"You tighten your arm with this," the woman explained, holding an elastic tourniquet. "Find the vein, and boom. Trust me, the next clients will go much smoother if you have this."_

_"What, it turns you on?"_

_"It turns you off."_

_Pazima shrugged, taking the tourniquet and wrapping it around her arm, finding a dark vein popping up from the crook of her elbow._

_"Here?"_

_"Yep."_

_"Here goes nothing," Paz whispered to herself, jabbing the syringe in her vein. There was barely any pain, and the substance went quickly._

_"Now, was that so bad?"_

_"Why are you doing this?" Pazima asked, handing the syringe back to her._

_"Drug use rules number one, Pazima, never share needles. I'm doing this as a favor. Trust me, if you want to survive her, it's going to take something much stronger than alcohol."_

_The Twi'lek walked out and Pazima found everything going hazy, the world's colors brightening and her eyes closing as her brain began to fill with bliss._

_"Never do drugs, girls," Pazima said, her mind's eye picturing her sisters as the latest man opened the door, Paz's senses going numb._


	16. Chapter 16

"No way. You got Luke to sell drugs?" Jax spun in his chair, face giddy as Lottie handed him a deathstick. 

They had met in the training room of the Prophet, Jax, Lottie, Luke, and Rosalie, to bypass the Rebel system for safety precautions. It didn't have any environmental modifications, it was just its usual bare-bones white, with Jax's makeshift computer station the only out-of-place object.

"I'm good, aren't I?" she said with a smile on her face, plopping herself on a chair next to her friend.

"Yeah, real funny guys, corrupting my relative innocence," Luke replied, crossing his arms and looking down at the two, who abruptly turned their heads to them.

"Oh please, Luke, all of us have to do something we don't like. For example, the General doesn't like working with us." Jax jabbed his finger at the stoic jedi.

"I will not confirm or deny that statement," Rosalie said, lost in thought as she looked over Jax's shoulder. "Have any of you stopped to consider exactly why the Rebellion hasn't been blown to pieces yet?"

"You mean in general, or just in recent months?" Jax asked, barely looking up from his work. "Ajax, run the scan algorithm for me, please. And open up Backlog, will you, babe?"

"No problem, sir."

"In recent months." Rosalie took a roll from the plate of food in the center of the table. "If Black Sun is here, what's stopping them from revealing our base?"

"Money," Lottie explained confidently. "I mean, if it were me sellin' info, I would drive a damn hard bargain for that little nugget."

"I have a feeling they've probably sold me out already," Luke said. "I mean, my name."

"Who gives a shit about a name, Luke, Vader's got a face."

"Alright, yeah, but what's stopping them from killing me?"

"Money."

"And on Vader's part, revenge, I'm sure." Rosalie raised her eyebrows at him. "Sith are petty."

"That's means Vader's probably after me." Lottie said, glancing at Luke. 

"Oh, I'm sure," Luke responded. "It takes a special kind of person to get away from him alive."

"That's us!" Lottie said, absentmindedly giving Luke a high-five.

"How did that happen, exactly?" Jax pushed his thick-rimmed glasses up his nose, not granting either of the limb.

Luke turned to Lottie for an explanation, knowing she would not willingly give up information about her dead father. She only raised her eyebrows at Luke, and turned to Jax.

"Luke totally grabbed my boob," Lottie said with absolutely no warning, ripping a roll in half with her teeth.

"Lottie!" Luke yelled, exasperated. He could feel the color rising in his cheeks.

"Oh my gods," Rosalie whispered, putting her head in her hands.

"Good job, Luke," Jax said, looking up from his work to smile at him.

"Lottie, you expressly asked me to reach under your shirt. For knives, I should mention, not for any funny business."

"That's not how I remember it," Lottie said, in a sing-song voice.

"We're getting a divorce," Luke replied, Lottie sticking her tongue out at him.

"Are they always like this?" Rosalie hissed, turning to Jax.

"Oh, absolutely adorable and in love? Yes."

"Thanks, Collins," Lottie muttered, spinning absentmindedly in her chair.

Jax took his glasses off, looking at the group with relief. "Well, I can sell your drugs for ya, no problem. One good thing about the 'Net, we don't have to deal with Luke being a terrible drug dealer-"

"I'm sorry I didn't go to school for drug dealing," Luke grumbled.

"Thanks, darling." Lottie got up from her chair and rested her head on Jax's chin, throwing her arms around his shoulders. "What about the sample? Can you find where it's from?"

"In a few months, maybe. These ingredients are hard to pinpoint. But I will."

"You're a love, Jax." Lottie kissed him on the cheek, taking her mug of tea. "I'll see you tonight, Luke. General, have fun...generaling."

"Thank you, Charlotte." 

* * *

"Tell my sister she wears her makeup too dark." Pazima accosted Luke as soon as he walked through the door to his dorm, turning her sister's face to him. Jatz music blared from Lottie's speaker, the sounds muffled and distorted from it's old age. Lottie had her hair thrown back in a bandanna, face smudged from cooking. Luke knew if it was anyone other than her older sister that was criticizing her makeup and smushing the girl's cheeks, they would have received at least three death threats by now.

"Lottie, you...wear your makeup too dark?!" Luke looked at the redhead quizzically, only to get an apologetic shake of the head.

"And tell her to never have sex."

"I'm not saying that."

"You're drunk, Pazzy," Lottie said, getting up from her sister's lap and taking her dishes.

"And you're not?" Pazima only rolled her head, placing it in her hands and raising her eyebrows at her. "I'm being serious. You're pretty, you don't need to look like something clawed your eyes out every day."

"Unfortunately, I do." Lottie didn't even turn from wiping the dishes with a cloth. "Not all of us are blessed with your perfect face."

"Still, you're a bit heavy-handed on the eyeliner."

"Lottie, I'll stay with Wedge, if you want," Luke whispered. He couldn't really remember the last time the sisters got to talk, really talk, about something other than a mission, or Black Sun, or the Alliance.

"No, stay." Lottie spoke at an even tone, ignoring her sister as she hummed to the music, wringing her hands with a towel. "Paz is gonna leave soon anyway. We did the real girl talk before you came."

"Bless you, Charlotte Reynard."

"What, you don't want to hear about tampons again?" Pazima slurred, looking at Luke over an ale bottle.

"I'm really alright."

Pazima perked as the music changed to a slow ballad. "You know, Luke, Lottie's a really good dancer. She used to dance to this song."

"You should go home," Lottie said quickly. "You're not going to be happy in the morning."

"Luke, you're really cute-"

" _Definitely_ time to go home," Lottie said, shushing Luke as he stifled a laugh.

Lottie nearly shoved Pazima out of the door, and closed it, putting her hands on her hips and throwing her head back against the door.

"You know, sometimes I wonder who's really the older sister in our relationship."

"She's always been irresponsible," Luke said. "Well, more irresponsible than you."

"Ain't that the truth," Lottie muttered, finishing the ale on the table.

"You know, why do you get so personal when she talks about your dancing?"

"Because she always  _asks_ me to dance," Lottie mused. "And I don't like dancing for people."

"It's just 'cause she's proud of you," Luke pointed out.

"Please," Lottie scoffed. "You're the only person in my life who ever considered being proud of me."

"I mean, you can see it in her face. Even when she's drunk."

"She is quite expressive when she's drunk," Lottie said, giving Luke a small smile, and throwing the ale in the sink, walking with a renewed confidence. "You know, I can't see worth shit without my contacts. Maybe you're right."

"First time you've ever said that to me."

"Don't get used to it, Skywalker."

"Trust me, I won't. This is another question, but related; is your mouth lopsided, or are you just permanently smirking at me?"

"Both," Lottie said coyly, flopping onto her bed and shutting her lamp off. "Good night, Luke Skywalker."

"Night, Lot."

 

 


	17. Chapter 17

Luke sat at the Fox Squadron's usual table in the cafeteria, looking at the food with a renewed disgust.

"Is it just me, or is everything cold today? Colder than usual?" He forced himself to place a morsel of food in his mouth, trying to ignore the taste.

"I hate this planet," Jax mused. "Maybe it's so cold because the Devil's finally come to claim Lottie."

"Ha, ha," Lottie muttered, mouth full of food.

"I'm being serious," Jax protested, pushing his glasses up his nose.

Lottie ignored Jax and focused her gaze elsewhere. "Has anyone noticed Paz is looking thinner lately?"

The whole group turned to observe Pazima in the cafeteria line. She had been looking sickly for a few weeks, but no one had said anything. Luke had trusted Lottie to speak up first. She was the medic and Paz's sister, after all.

"Yeah, coming from you, that's a real nice claim," Wedge observed, pointing his fork at Lottie.

Lottie glanced down at her stick-thin torso. "Okay, but I'm  _always_ thin. I mean, Pazzy's never been fat, but she's never been like this."

"I actually agree with Lottie," Luke put in. 

"What a surprise," Wedge grumbled.

"She doesn't look sick to you, Wedge?"

"She might just have the flu," he offered.

"Wouldn't you and Jax know?"

"Hey," Pazzy said cheerfully, sitting down with barely anything on her plate. "How is everyone?"

"You should eat more," Lottie commanded, giving her sister a pointed look.

"Yeah, coming from you, that's real good advice."

"Paz," Lottie pleaded. "Please?"

"I'm just not hungry. Gods, you all are looking at me like I'm dying or something. I'm fine!"

"No, you're not." Lottie pulled out her datapad. "You've been losing muscle, the results just came from your last-"

"So I don't have as much muscle anymore, what does that mean to you?" Pazima snapped. "Lottie, I appreciate it, really, but I'm alright."

Lottie looked at her sister, but slowly began to put her datapad away. "If you say so."

Suddenly, all of them jumped Jax's comm beeped.

"Shit, guys, it's just a fucking comm." Jax scrolled past a few menus before he nearly dropped it, mouth wide as he looked across the table to Luke.

"Jax, what's up?" Luke said, but Jax just handed him his comm.

Luke looked at the screen, slowly looking up at Jax.

"What does it say?" Lottie asked, looking over Luke's shoulder. "Read it out."

Luke's hands shook as he spoke, his voice vibrating dangerously.

"Breaking news: Death Star Pilot Name and Face recognition. Wanted Dead or Alive for Crimes Against the Empire: Luke Skywalker, bounty one million credits."

"Fuck, they've even got your picture," Pazima said, grabbing the comm.

"I'm gonna kill whoever snitched," Lottie vowed. "I'll find out, Luke, they're gonna-"

"No one snitched, Lottie," Jax groaned exasperatedly. "You said so yourself, Black Sun sold the info to the Empire."

"Which begs the question, how long until they sell out the location of the base?" Wedge hissed. "We need to step up our game."

"We've been stepping it up for the past year, Wedge," Lottie retorted. "We can't do anything."

"Yes we-"

"It's five of us. And let's be real," Lottie coughed, shaking her head. "We haven't been 'us' for a while. Black Sun has been splitting us apart. You and Paz barely talk to me anymore, Jax, you've been snappy and slow. The only person I can rely on is Luke, and don't pretend you all aren't jealous, because you are."

"Jealous? Of you and Luke?" Wedge scoffed.

"I'm not your little paid assassin anymore, I've grown up," Lottie hissed. "You're mad."

"Please-"

"I'm going to clear my head," Lottie muttered, throwing her jacket over her shoulder and pushing her chair into the table violently. She stormed out of the cafeteria, not giving the group a second glance.

"Find her, Luke," Wedge said, running his hands through his hair. "You're the only one who can get through to her now."

* * *

"Lottie?" Luke knocked next to her gaudy door hinge to her room on the Prophet. She had all but disappeared after breakfast, and he knew this was one of her hiding places. "You in there?"

He moved a pink curtain hesitantly, looking down into her dorm to find nothing. Luke huffed, leaning his head against the fake flowers around her door, closing her eyes.

After a few minutes, his eyes opened at the muffled sound of music coming from the training room.

"Gotcha," he whispered indistinctly, smiling as he walked toward the room at the back of the ship. He had a witty greeting already formed in the back of his mind, but as soon as she saw Lottie, he stopped dead in his tracks.

She had taken her t-shirt off, it lay crumpled at the end of the floor. She was wearing a sports bra and sweatpants, the hem sitting just lower than her underwear. The shoes on her feet were the same light pink that she decorated everything with, the toes flat, allowing her to stand on the top of her feet. The laces were delicate, tied criss-cross. The only thing not remotely beautiful about them was how threadbare they are. The ribbons looked chewed through and the shoes had holes, the flat tops worn down to the paper sole. The music was from an opera, the strings in harmony with the female's powerful vocals. There was one thing, though, more beautiful than the music and the shoes and the pink.

It was her. She was dancing, ballet, it seemed. Her lopsided smile was full, her eyes not focused on anything, it seemed. Her arms were gracefully as they moved, her feet lifting and jumping in time with the music. She looked regal, not unlike her sister, but blissful and at peace. Luke didn't know anything about dance, but the way she danced was the most exquisite thing he had seen in a long time. It was all a contradictory picture, this young girl, stunning, alluring, graceful, delicate and her clothes homely and dull.

Luke almost had to stifle a laugh. Never in a million years would he have thought to use those adjectives when describing Lottie Reynard, a vulgar, crass, unapolagetic human being. But yet, here he was.

The music reached a crescendo, and she finished the routine, her arms poised above her head and her left foot pointed in the air.

Luke gave her a slow clap, a smile forming on his face. Lottie turned, startled and red, but then shook her head, turning to shut the music off.

"You should have left," Lottie said, switching the music off with a remote and putting her hands on her hips, panting slightly.

"Leave? Now that would be grounds for murder, to leave a performance like that."

Lottie rolled her eyes, grabbing a water bottle and taking a large gulp of it. "Please."

"I'm being serious."

"You're only saying that because you know me."

"You have mirrors, you saw yourself dancing, you should know how good you are."

Lottie huffed, putting her hands on her hips."Wedge sent you, didn't he?"

"Kind of. But I would have come anyway."

"And why is that?"

"Because you're worried about me."

"You aren't?" Lottie raised her thin eyebrows. "You're number one at the Empire's Most Wanted list."

"I've been that for a long time."

"Yeah, but they have your name this time."

Luke shrugged. "So they come for me. They'll come for both of us in the end."

"Me before you," she said,  giving him a small laugh. "Since when am I the reasonable one?"

"Since I became a wanted criminal."

She shook her head, turning and walking toward the cargo ramp, leaving the Prophet. "Tell Wedge I'm alright and I'm sorry for snapping at him. I'm almost twenty, that's what we do."

"He'll be fine, Lot, don't worry. He'll get over it."

"Always does." She paused, and turned to him, leaning against the wall. "You know, Luke, no matter what happens, I'm gonna protect you. That's what I do."

"Likewise."

Lottie nodded, her lips pursing into a smile. "I'll see you around, Luke Skywalker."

"See you around, Charlotte Reynard."

Luke Skywalker realized four fundamental truths at the very same time when she walked out of the Prophet. One, Lottie Reynard was a contradiction; a poor girl who danced like she was the richest woman in the world, a killer who healed, a hardened street kid whose accent betrayed her intelligence, a broken, cynical woman who cared more about her friends than she did herself. Second, she would die, just like he would, and when she did, he would not know anyone like her again, a woman that fascinating, that challenging, that marvelous, that compassionate, that protective.

Third, he was in love with her. He couldn't deny it, he thought, slipping down to sit against the wall and taking her T-shirt from the ground. He hadn't felt like this around anyone, not his schoolboy crushes on Tatooine, not Leia. Lottie was of a different sort entirely, the kind of girl you remember the smell of once she's gone, the girl who can make you laugh so hard you cry, the girl that could captivate you with every word that came from her expletive-laced brain, the woman who was so beautiful that he was a fool not to have fallen in love with her sooner.

Fourth, staying in a room with Charlotte Reynard was going to be  _extremely_ difficult.


	18. Interlude 6

_"I need money." Pazima's hands shook violently, slamming her empty bag on Madame Kal'sen's desk. The pale woman looked up, red eyes boring into Pazima and her thin, elegant hands folding gracefully._

_"Then work," she said simply, cocking her head._

_"No, you don't understand," Pazima said desperately, sitting down in the lavish seat to her right. "I haven't used in three days."_

_"Who got you started on_  debatai?"

_"Athleenia."_

_"How did I know?" Madame Kal'sen said, pulling a blaster out from a drawer and slamming it on her desk._

_"What are you-"_

_"Learn how to use it. Give me your datapad." Pazima reluctantly handed the device over, looking at the blaster with distaste._

_"I...I've only used a blaster once." Pazima closed her eyes, the image of the Imperial soldiers she had killed so long ago flashing violently in her mind. "I have no intention of using it again."_

_"You want_ debatai?"  _Kal'sen looked up._

_"Yes, please, Madame, I only need a little, I'll quit-"_

_"Don't lie to me, girl," the older woman snapped, handing the datapad back to her. "Any monkey can learn how to shoot, Pazima. Get good, and then contact this man and tell him you want a job."_

_"Who is he?" Pazima asked, scrolling through the datapad apprehensively._

_"His name is Lorccan Elwood. He is one of the most dangerous men I know, but with a face like yours and decent skills with a blaster, you may have some targets."_

_Pazima swallowed, and took the blaster quickly, fixing the holster on her belt. "Thank you, Madame."_

_"Don't thank me, pay me back. Get back to work, we have clients waiting."_

_"Yes. Madame."_

* * *

 

_Pazima waited impatiently in the abandoned warehouse a week after she had been given the blaster by Madame. In between clients, she had practiced so much that her fingers had bled on occasion. At first, she couldn't hit anything, but she had discovered the two secrets to blaster fighting._

_Patience and rage._

_Patience because a blaster was a finicky thing, you never quite knew where the shot would land, and if you acted rashly, you could miss entirely. Rage, because Pazima always hit bullseyes when she thought of clients, the men's faces popping up again and again in her mind. And again and again, she shot them squarely between the eyes._

_"Pazima." A deep, calming voice came from the shadows. She grabbed the hilt of her blaster, darting her eyes toward the back of the room._

_"Mister Elwood, I'm assuming?"_

_The man laughed, stepping forward. His skin was dark, but his eyes were a piercing yellow-blue and his face covered with a full beard. Two guards flanked him, Pazima assumed many more on the outskirts of the warehouse. Lorccan was intimidating, but a royal sort of intimidating. Pazima was already used to that. "Please, call me Lorccan."_

_"Fine. I'm here for a job."_

_"I know. It's not often that I meet prospective Eagle Eyes personally, but when Kal'sen told me of your talents, I knew I had to investigate."_

_"My talents?" Pazima raised an eyebrow. "Sir, I'm just good at shooting."_

_"Shoot that lamp for me," Lorccan commanded, darting his eyes towards one flickering in the back left corner. Pazima shot it with ease, sparks flying across the room. "That's one of the fastest draws I've seen. You learned that in a week?"_

_"Yessir," Pazima said, nodding her head proudly._

_"You're a natural." Lorccan took a few steps forward and brushed a stray hair out of Pazima's face, smiling at her proudly. Pazima's mouth twitched upwards._ He's not unnattractive,  _she thought._ And he seems alright enough. _"There's one more thing I need you to do, Pazima, before I let you join Black Sun?"_

_"And what's that?"_

_Lorccan nodded to the guard on his right, who motioned two other guards forward, dragging forward a man bound at the knees, bleeding from the mouth._

_"Kill him," Lorccan said simply._

_"Who-who is he?" Pazima stammered, looking at the blaster, and the man, and then back at Lorccan._

_"Who he is is not your concern. Your concern is that he's work a hundred thousand credits and you get 20% off the top if you shoot him right now."_

_Pazima closed her eyes, her sister's faces flashing in her mind. She knew they would all be disappointed, her mother, her father, Zish, her sisters. A Xuhiri princess turned into whore killing people for drug money._

_"You don't have to listen to him," the man pleaded. "Just let me go, I won't say anything-"_

_Pazima grasped the blaster firmly and shot him, the man falling backwards onto the ground. His body lay limp and motionless, the wound already cauterized but the hole in his head still violent and bloody._

_Her hands shook again, and Pazima briefly wondered if it was because of the lack of drugs or the fact that she just murdered a man she didn't know. She realized a few moments later that she didn't care. That was how it was on Coruscant, she realized. You were a killer or a whore or a druggie. Pazima was now the rare feat of all three._

I'll be damned if that doesn't make a good resume,  _Pazima thought, smiling to herself. She looked back at Lorccan, who looked at her like her father used to, proud and humbled._

_"Welcome to Black Sun, Pazima. Welcome to the Eagle Eyes."_


	19. Chapter 19

"'Ello!" Lottie called cheerfully, throwing her keys onto the kitchen table. Luke turned quickly, putting down the spoon he was using to cook a stirfry.

"Oh. Hey," he said, looking Lottie up and down as she tossed a pack of cigarras from her breast pocket. He caught himself smiling at her appearance, something that happened often now after he had seen her dance ballet. "What are you doing home?"

"Work ended," Lottie said, raising an eyebrow skeptically. "What's going on with you?"

"Oh. Nothing," Luke said, turning back to his food. "You look nice," he commented awkwardly.

"I'm wearing scrubs covered in vomit," Lottie quipped, grabbing an ale from the counter.

"They're your nice scrubs covered in vomit," Luke countered, Lottie laughing in spite of herself.

"Speaking of, I should change," Lottie called, walking towards the back of the room. "Laundry's on you, hotshot."

"Eww," Luke groaned. "Do I have to wash your gross scrubs?"

"I washed your gross flightsuit."

"My flightsuit isn't gross."

"Have you  _seen_ that color? What are you making?" There was more rustling at the back of their apartment as Lottie got clothes from her duffel bag.

"A vegetable stirfry Tatooine style and a nerf steak-Shit!" The smoke alarm in their room started beeping, as Lottie rushed into the room in a camisole and panties, Luke looking down at the ground instantly as she pushed him to the side. This certainly wasn't the first time he had seen her with so little clothes, but watching her now made color rush to his cheeks.

"Here, I got it," she said, pulling the nerf out of the oven and handing it to him with a crooked smile on her face.

"I think I burned it," he said defeatedly, trying to think of anything but how she looked as Lottie brushed the smoke out from the pan.

"Eh," Lottie said, taking a fork and scraping the bottom of the pan. "I think you'll get away alright." She took off her mittens and sat down again at the table, grabbing her ale from the counter. "You're lucky I had wife training."

"Wife training?" Luke said amused, scraping off burnt bits from the nerf.

"Oh, nevermind. What's the occasion?"

"I felt like cooking dinner. You're going to have to explain that one, Lottie."

She scoffed, shaking her head. "At Horrificus, it was just a...Remember that blond kid we saw on the farm?"

"Yeah. You said he was part of your...runaway circus crew."

Lottie laughed good-naturedly. "Well, I was set to marry him."

"No way. They did arranged marriages?"

"Yeah, and I had to learn how to cook and clean and heal and be a good wife."

"That's...mildly sexist."

"Only mildly," Lottie jibed. "I mean, at least it gave me a cover."

"Did they teach you how to mix drinks?"

"Ah. No, that I learned from my alcoholism."

Luke chuckled, pouring the finished stirfry onto a plate. "Maybe we could head to your sister's tonight. I think you're right, I think she's sick."

"And your rank Tatooine food is gonna help?" Lottie took a large swig of her ale.

"Hey!" Luke said defensively, Lottie sniggering into her drink.

"You would have failed Wife101, you burnt your steak."

"Not all of us are blessed to be the perfect wife, Lottie."

"I try."

"I'm being serious though. Bring over some leftovers."

"Alright."

Luke coughed, glancing at Lottie's bare legs. "You might want to put some pants on."

"If I feel like it," Lottie replied, taking a large bite of her steak.

* * *

 

"Pazima?" Lottie called,leaning against her door looking at Luke with a note of impatience. "It's your lovely-oh fuck it." Lottie clicked the doorknob open, striding confidently into the room. "If I see Wedge's actual ass in this room, I will not only kill him but I will make sure-"

Lottie stopped dead in her track at Pazima, looking up desperately at her sister. She held an elastic tourniquet in her teeth, and a needle already half-jabbed in her arm. A nightstand held boiling water and a bag of deathsticks already prepped for use. Her room was a mess, and Pazima's eyes were sunken and hollow, her cheekbones a near purple.

"Pazima," Lottie hissed, her teeth gritted, examining her sister up and down.

"Lottie, Luke, please, I didn't want you to-"

"How. COULD YOU?!" Lottie screamed as she slammed the nightstand against the wall, the wood splintering in pieces and the boiling water spilling everywhere. Luke stood in the back, frozen in shock as Lottie picked up her sister roughly by the scruff of her collar, straddling her on the bed and pinning her wrists down with her knees.

"Lottie, I-"

"After everything I've done for you?!" Lottie slapped her sister so hard the sound reverberated against the walls. "You go back to _debatai_?! You ruin the life that we've built?!"

"Baby, I-"

"Don't you baby me, you piece of shit!" Lottie slapped her again, the sound making Luke wince. "You promised me that you would never use again after my sorry 12-year-old ass rescued you from a fucking overdose!"

"Lottie, you don't understand-"

"No, I think I do. You're a selfish bitch who does nothing but hurt everyone around you. I should have never followed you back here."

Pazima looked up at Luke with her eyes red and raw, Lottie's slap quickly bruising on her face as tears pooled in her eyes, blinking quickly due to the sting.

"Lottie," Luke whispered, taking a step towards her, but Lottie grabbed his shirt and yanked him mere inches from her face.

"Stay out of this," she snarled, sending him stumbling toward the back of the room.

"Lottie, I'm sorry." Pazima shook her head as Lottie ripped the needle out of her arm, throwing the tourniquet to the other side of the room.

"Yeah, you're gonna be sorry," Lottie muttered ominously. turning quickly and putting her sister in a headlock, squeezing until Pazima's eyes closed, her body going limp.

"Lottie, did you just-"

"She's not dead, just unconscious," Lottie whispered, wiping her hands on her camisole. "Trust me, you're not going to want her awake for this."

"What are we doing?" Luke asked, as Lottie looked at the spilling water with distaste.

"Look over this place for anything that could have anything to do with drugs. If there's a needle, I want it. Water, I wanted. Hell, if there's a fucking grain of powder, bag that shit. Comm Jax, he'll know."

"What are you going to do?" Luke asked as Lottie picked Pazima up, throwing the woman over her shoulders.

"I'm gonna drop her off in your bed. Then, Wedge and I are gonna have a talk."


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: VIOLENCE, aftermath of drug use, lots of blood.  
> Again, Mykal Zeras is part of likemarionettes' wonderful collection of OC's.

"How's she doing?" Luke asked, sitting on the edge of Lottie's bed as she wiped Pazima's mouth with a cloth. The older woman was still passed out, sweating buckets and coughing up blood. 

"Not good," Lottie said quietly, going to the kitchen unit and washing her hands. "We'll be lucky if she survives the night."

"Is there anything I can do?" Luke said, watching as Lottie climbed into the left side of the bed, pulling the ponytail holder out of her hair and letting it fall to her shoulders.

"Wait," Lottie said, turning the lamp off. "Pray to whatever god will listen." The girl sighed, and turned so she faced the ceiling, wiping sweat from her forehead. "I never should have come here."

"Our room?"

"The Rebellion," Lottie clarified. "I should have just stayed on Coruscant, where I belonged, not try to be some hero here."

"Lot," Luke said, resting his hand on her forehead. "You're doing the best you can."

"I know, I just-I should have stayed. You wouldn't be a part of any of this, wouldn't have to deal with me or Paz."

"You're not something I have to  _deal_ with. I mean, the fact that you hate Tatooine food? That I have to deal with. But you are my best friend, y'know." _  
_

Lottie smiled, but shook her head. "I could've been married by now. Had a few kids."

Luke pulled his hand away from her forehead, staring at a spot on the wall. "Huh," he whispered audibly.

"What?"

"It's just-I never took you for the marriage and kids type."

Lottie shrugged, wiping a stray tear from her eye. "It's all I ever wanted growing up, besides my promising sword dancing career."

Luke chuckled, and replaced his hand on her forehead. "You never know, you might find someone."

"Funny, Skywalker."

"I'm serious. I mean, I know it would certainly be nice to marry someone who already had wife training." That made Lottie giggle, taking his hand from her hair and putting it on the bed. "And hey, you're twenty. You've got a lot of years to find a husband yet."

"I mean, you're already my...friend-husband, I guess. Frusband."

"Frusband to Lottie Reynard, my greatest achievement."

Lottie laughed, but turned quiet again, her eyes turning to the woman asleep in the opposite bed. "I hope she makes it," she whispered. "I don't know what I would do without her."

"Yeah, me too." Luke said, his voice matching Lottie's tone. "I'm gonna go head to Wedge's now-"

"Luke, wait-" Lottie said, reaching out and grabbing his hand. "Will you...stay with me? Until I fall asleep?"

"Of course," Luke said, climbing into the opposite side of the bed as Lottie pillowed her head on his chest, Luke running a hand through her hair. The sight of her asleep, so peaceful, was just as beautiful as her dancing. Luke couldn't help but think what it would be like with Lottie if there wasn't a war, if her sister wasn't a drug addict, if they both weren't murderers. Maybe they could have had a normal life, a normal friendship. Images ran through his mind, a home, a family, two jobs. Lottie kissing him as she went to work.

Luke's reverie was interrupted by Lottie's sleep-breathing, not a snore but still audible, a decidedly feminine sound.

"Always," he whispered, leaning his head against the pillow and closing his eyes, rubbing Lottie's shoulder as he fell asleep.

* * *

 Luke gave the syringe lying on his bedside table a long, apprehensive look. Filled with what Lottie said was an antidote, the red liquid swirled around, the needle nearly as long as Luke's forearm.

"You gonna have some balls and use that on me?" Pazima laughed, drool and blood spilling from her mouth as she halfheartedly struggled against the handcuffs Lottie had put her in.

"If you get bad, I will," Luke said calmly. "We're not the enemy here."

"No, you're right," she spat. "You're not the one that tied me to your fucking bed."

"Lottie is doing what she has to," Luke said defensively. "Because she loves you."

"Please," Paz snorted. "Lottie is nefarious for loving all the wrong people."

"She's your sister."

"Not by blood."

"Still. Family is family."

"She should love you."

Luke's head perked at Pazima's words. "What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean. She told me about what happened on the Prophet."

Luke looked at the floor, a small, embarrassed smile forming. "Is it that obvious?"

"Not to her, no. Lottie's perceptive, but she's also good at fooling herself."

"What about you?"

"Look at me," Pazima said, eyes darting to the vomit on Luke's pillow. "I've stopped denying that I was the human equivalent of bantha shit quite a long time ago."

"Paz, you're not-"

"Don't even bother denying it, Skywalker. You know as well as I do that the fact that I started killing people for good reasons recently is my only redeeming quality."

Luke shook his head. "You two are always so hard on yourselves. I mean, I was responsible for killing four million people. I can't really shame you two for anything."

"Yeah, at least you had a godsdamn reason," Paz muttered, turning on the bed, her braided hair damp from sweat. "Luke, I'm going to ask you something, and you're not going to like what I'm implying, but too bad."

Luke sighed, folding his arms. "What is it?"

"I'm going to die. If I don't die tomorrow, or next week, soon. My time is up, and when it happens, I need you to look out for her." Pazima looked Luke straight in the eyes, her forest-green ones piercing and full. "Look out for my sister. She can't end up like me."

"Pazima, I-"

"Promise me."

Luke took Paz's hand, tattooed with roses, and squeezed it. "I promise."

"Also, give her some good sex sometime. Or, as she would say, 'shag.'" Pazima pronounced the last word in a vulgar mockery of Lottie's own harsh Lower accent, making Luke simultaneously laugh and blush violently.

"I'm not sure how I can promise that one."

"Come on, I've seen the way you two-"

"Hey sis," Lottie said, slinging a white tote bag over her shoulder, her black jumpsuit's hood down and her chest and neck splattered with blood. She plopped the bag down in the center of the room as she rushed to her sister's side. "How are you feeling?"

"Luke just told me he wants to have sex with you," Pazima said, winking at Luke as he nearly fell over his chair in shock.

"Who doesn't?" Lottie said, completely nonplussed as she laid a hand on Pazima's forehead. "You're still burning up."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"Hi Paz, Mr. and Mrs. Skywalker," Jax greeted, sitting down with his holocomputer on the edge of Luke's bed. "Wedge should be here any-"

"What's up?" Wedge finished, striding into the room. "I brought cake."

"Darling," Lottie said thankfully, kissing Wedge on the cheek.

"So, Lottie, how did the drug dealer go?" Wedge took Pazima's hand, running a hand through her hair as he looked towards her sister.

"Ah," Lottie said, finally reaching towards the bag she had plopped in the room. Luke hadn't noticed before that the bottom was suspiciously red. "Well, you see, Paz said something about the head being important, so I kind of just...cut it off." The bag fell down as Lottie held the severed head of a Human male firmly in her left hand, blood still dripping from the neck and the spinal bone extending just farther than the yellow flesh, his eyes popped open and his mouth agape in shock.

"I think I just lost my appetite," Luke muttered, placing his fork and cake down.

"Attagirl," Pazima gushed proudly, smirking to herself.

"I don't know whether to laugh, cheer, or vomit," Jax said, taking a look at the head as he set his holocomputer down.

"How about all three?" Lottie said, replacing it in the bag. "I noticed this weird cut behind his ear, see?" Jax traced a faint line behind the left ear.

"Yeah, I certainly see," he said, his voice shaky.

"What do you think it is?" Wedge seemed to be the only one unaffected by the severed head that was now sitting in the apartment.

"Let's find it out. Luke, scalpel please. And gloves, if you don't mind"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah," Luke rummaged through her med bag and found the sharp instrument, handing it to Lottie with shaky hands.

"Thanks, darling." Lottie snapped the gloves on her hand and cut into the scar. With no discernible reaction, she pulled out a bloody piece of software.

"Ugh," Luke said, recoiling in his seat as a long, thin string of blood separated itself from the head and the chip.

"You may want to clean that," she said,placing it in Jax's hands and throwing the gloves into the trash bin on Luke's side of the room.

"Yeah, you think?" Jax wiped it off with a few towels and jammed it into his computer, his face going from horrified to giddy in the matter of a few seconds. "Holy  _shit._ Lottie, if I wasn't gay, I would propose to you right here and right now."

"What is it?"

"It's the code for getting into Black Sun's system. I have everything now-their members, their transactions, their communications, this is what we needed to-"

All five of them jumped at the door to the apartment being thrown open, Lottie instantly unsheathing her swords and the three men grabbing their blasters.

"Guys, I need your-oh my gods!" General Seeker-Kalar'aa shrieked, recoiling at the head on the floor. "Is that-Did you?"

"I was angry," Lottie huffed impatiently, putting her swords away. "What's up?"

"Lorccan Elwood just tried to comm me." She put out her comm, glancing at the five of them. 

"What?!" Wedge took the comm from her, glancing at the number. "That's-not possible."

"Well, he is. He's tried once already, I haven't answered, I thought I should come to you guys. Paz, why are you-"

"Long story, and don't call me Paz."

"Oh, alright," Rosalie said, eyebrows raising. "Can you guys do anything?"

"I can see if I can trace it," Jax said, Wedge placing the comm on Lottie's bed. "If I can trace it, maybe-"

"Hello, Rosalie Seeker." Lorccan's voice suddenly cut through Jax's chatter like velvet. The group exchanged glances of shock, Rosalie taking a step forward to speak into the comm.

"Lorccan Elwood," she said, her voice calm and even. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I understand you've been working with the Fox."

"This is between us, Lorccan. You commed me."

"Yes, well." The man chuckled through the comm, a low, ominous sound. "I know the Fox too. In fact, I trained the Fox."

Rosalie looked to Lottie, who shook her head violently. She stepped back and took Luke's hand, her face a mix of anger and fear.

"What do you want?"

"I have reasonable suspicion that Pazima Reynard is not the only Fox. In fact, a little birdie told me that she has a sister who's been running around with the most wanted man in the galaxy. Now, I don't quite know what Miss Charlotte Reynard is doing with Luke Skywalker, but I'd like to know."

Everyone turned to look at Lottie, chewing the inside of her cheek. She motioned for Rosalie to keep talking.

"What this girl is doing is not my business, and not yours either. If you want to negotiate-"

"You'll give me Charlotte Reynard, or this man, Mykal Zeras, will die."

Rosalie's hand flew to his mouth, looking to Lottie, and then back to the comm. "You're bluffing."

"Would you like to hear him scream to check?"

Lottie's hand broke away from Luke's, stomping towards the comm and shoving Rosalie out of her way.

"Lorccan Elwood, my name is Charlotte Reynard," she said, every syllable furious and impassioned. "You have what you want, now let this man go."

"Thank you. He'll be home soon, General Seeker."

"Her name's Seeker-Kalar'aa, you impolite shithead, get it right."

"Well, well, you certainly do take after your sister in some regards."

"Leave the Rebellion alone," Lottie growled. "Leave my sister alone. You know who we are, now get the fuck out."

"Oh no, that'd be too easy. You see, I know your weaknesses, Charlotte Reynard."

"Oh, and what's that?"

"Not a what, who. Your sister, Jax Collins, Wedge Antilles. Even General Seeker-Kalar'aa, as you so pleasantly reminded me. Oh, and him. The big one. Luke Skywalker."

The rest of them turned to Lottie, the girl looking up, as if pleading to some sort of god for an answer.

"Oh yeah? Well I know yours, Lorccan Elwood," she spat.

Lorccan laughed again. "Please, enlighten me."

"Arrogance. You thought that you could take us, our little group, and right now, I'm looking at your best dealer's head bleeding on my carpet. Not only that, I just pulled that chip of yours out if his brain, and you can't hide anymore, you quivering pussy. You want us, Lorccan? Tralus. 265-987 West, 574-309 North. 1200. Seven days from now. Get your best men. It'll be fun to see how fast it takes them to die."

"What if I tell the Empire about your little friends?"

"Then I kill every last one of your operatives in the Rebellion and drop their bloody bodies in Coruscant Square with my name carved on their chest." Lottie's mouth formed her crooked smile again, her eyes hooded as she made eye contact with her sister. "Your move, Lorccan."

"I'll see you on Tralus. I hope your sister feels better by then."

"I hope you've got your will in order, Lorccan Elwood."

Rosalie's comm shut off, and Lottie breathed a sigh of relief, giving it back to the white-haired woman.

"What are we going to do?" Rosalie asked, looking to the rest of the group.

"I have the feeling Lottie has a plan," Wedge said proudly.

"Yeah, and Lorccan made the first mistake. Accepting a challenge on our home turf. Get the Prophet ready, we're going back to the mansion."


	21. Interlude 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: drug use, drug overdose

_The blaster rifle bounced on the bedding after Pazima threw it, lazily taking off her top and bringing the kettle she had already filled with water to a boil. She pulled the deathsticks out of her bag, running her fingers over them lightly. Grabbing the syringe and elastic from her bag, she started tying off her arm when she heard a small voice at the door._

_"Miss Pazima?" It was one of the brothel's "helpers," little street rat kids who did the cleaning and the cooking and the dirty work. You could tell them apart from the prostitutes because they had tattoos on their hands, not their hips. Also, they were kids, and one good thing about Helina was they did not hire children._

_Pazima knew this boy, a redheaded kid probably on the run from his parents. "What do you want, Kel?"_

_"I was supposed to check on you, make sure you're alright."_

_"I'm alright, Kel." She crushed a deathstick and mixed it with the boiling water, pouring it in the small syringe. She didn't bother to measure how much, she needed a lot today._

_"How did your mission go?"_

_"Terribly," she said, not bothering to look at the kid._

_"Did you know the girl's name this time?"  
_

_Pazima sighed, turning to the boy. "Her name was Natalia. Now, c'mon, kid, don't you have somewhere to be?"_

_He nodded, and ran off, Pazima getting up and shutting the door with her foot._

_Killing her lover barely even made Pazima blink an eye, and that was what was scaring her. She wanted to feel something, pain, remorse, anger, sadness, but all of that had been replaced as soon as she started working for Lorccan and using. All she cared about was the high and how much money the next target was._

_She realized that she should probably be worried, but she didn't care. She briefly wondered if she was depressed._

_"Probably," she said aloud, laughing darkly._

_She looked at the amount she had used, and poured more in. The thought of an overdose didn't even stop her._ At least I'll feel something,  _she thought._ Or maybe nothing. For killing so many, I still don't know what death is like.

_She jabbed the needle into her arm, her eyes closing as the drug found its vein and made her way to her brain, enveloping her in sweet nothingness._

* * *

_Pazima's eyes fluttered open, and instantly shut closed. The light in the room was so blinding that she didn't reopen them until minutes later, and slowly, one at a time and in millimeters until she could look, really look at her surroundings. The windows flooded in light from the...sun. The sun. That thing she hadn't seen for so long, that sun. It brought a small smile to her face to think of it, to feel the warmth on her cheek, the glow on the windowpane. The bed she was laying on was not hers at Helina's, it was uncomfortable and the metal mattress stuck out in all the wrong places. She went to move her hands, but found they were shackled down by something. Handcuffs, she realized, feeling the cold metal on their wrists._

_"Where am I?" she whispered, her voice hoarse and gravelly._

_"Ah. You're awake." A man sauntered to her bed, checking a readout and her IV, and then smiling down at her. He spoke with what the Lower natives referred to as a "posh" Coruscanti accent, one with clear tones and beautiful sounding words, like a song. He had a nice, wide smile, his green eyes crinkled at the corners. His red hair shone brilliantly in the sun, wanting Pazima to cover her eyes._

_"Who are you?" she asked, still whispering, trying desperately to unlock herself from the bed._

_"Rest. You've just had an overdose. These handcuffs are merely a safety precaution."_

_"Why?"_

_"In case you have another seizure. You're two weeks sober, and I'd rather you be handcuffed then fall off the bed and break your back."_

_"You still haven't answered my questions."_

_"My name is Dr. Todd Greenberg, and you're in my apartment, fifteen blocks east from Coruscant West General."_

_"What? Why your apartment and not the hospital?"_

_"Because, I can't very well be showing up with a dead Xuhiri royal dying of an overdose and not be asked to explain it to my superiors."_

_"Oh." Pazima said, shifting uncomfortably. "So you know who I am."_

_"I'm surprised you don't know who I am. I volunteer quite a lot at the refugee center under Helina."_

_"I don't go there too often," Pazima replied. "I'm not a refugee."_

_"Yes, well." Todd brought a chair over and sat next to her, folding her arms. "I didn't just rescue you out of the goodness of my heart, although that was certainly part of it." He laughed to himself, but stopped at Pazima's unamused face. "I'm here to offer you a proposition, Pazima."_

_"What's that?"_

_"A chance to start over. A new life, a new name, away from Lower, away from the Brothel, away from Black Sun."_

_Pazima cocked her head to the side. "Sounds like there's a catch."_

_The man nodded, smiling at her. "You're smart."_

_"Not all whores are dropouts."_

_"I've been watching you for a long time, Pazima Nkosi. You're one of the best shots with a blaster I've ever seen. Not to mention, smart, good with a ship, beautiful. I'm looking for someone to replace me for...shall I say...a night job."_

_"What's your night job?"_

_"Have you heard of the Fox?"_

_Pazima's mouth dropped, her eyes wide. "No way."_

_"Yes, I'm afraid, it's true. I ask for six months to a year's training on Alderaan. Then, you get a new name, a position in the Rebel Alliance, and a good one. And you're lucky too. You wouldn't have to find a replacement, we've got one on the way."_

_"Who's she?"_

_"Her name is Nadezhda Dorchester. She is seven years old, and a prodigy."_

_"Dorchester," Pazima said languidly. "She's Horrificus?"_

_"Like I said, smart. So, are you in?"_

_Pazima sighed, and glanced again out of the window. The sun was so beautiful, and all she wanted was to see more of it again. It all seemed too good to be true, the sun, Todd, the Fox._

_"Of course. What idiot would say no?"_

_Todd laughed, and took her hand out of the shackles. "You're not going to punch me?"_

_"Of course not," Pazima replied, intertwining her fingers with his. "You saved my life."_

 


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: violence. This is an action heavy chapter.

"He's late," Pazima said, jamming her comlink in her ear. 

"Strange," Lottie commented, sharpening her swords next to her sister, glancing at the horizon. "He seems like the type of guy with a stick up his arse about time."

"Yeah, among other things," Pazima quipped, smiling at her sister as she laughed into her swords. "Lottie, not to be gross or anything, but you know the drill if I go out."

"Of course," Lottie replied, sheathing her swords. "Same for me?"

"Yeah," Pazima replied, her voice heavy. "I think that's him," she said, raising her eyes to a ship in the distance. "Ready, little one?"

" _Arien sudoigh,"_ Lottie replied, running towards the woods as Pazima got up, walking towards the open beach from the mansion's porch steps.

"All units report in. This is Vixen, standing by."

"Maelstrom, lookin' fly."

"Godsdammit, Em, I was gonna use that. Um, Kit, ready for some bitches to die."

"This is Sundance. Um...I like pie?"

"Grandpa. I hate all of you and hope you burn in hell."

"Likewise," Pazima replied with a chuckle. "General?"

"Standing by."

"Ooh, booring!" Lottie called over the comm channel.

"Sorry...Kit. Only call for me if things look bad."

"Of course, General." Pazima stood defiantly as the Coruscanti transport landed on the Squadron's precious beach, her hair blowing in the wind. When the ship docked, Lorccan Elwood stepped out, his brown trench goat swaying with grandeur.

"Pazima Reynard," he said, motioning for the doors to close as he kissed her hand, covered in Pazima's white armor. "It has been too long. I assume you've invited me on business,"

"No," Pazima said, eyes darting briefly to the black and red shadow running towards the ship. "No, I invited you here to die."

Lorccan only laughed in reply, motioning for his two guards to take arms. "I believe your sister did, not you."

"Well, I was indisposed. But, I share her sentiments."

"She's not like you or me. Civilized, you understand. I've read what I could. You really adopted a Lower girl?"

"Wow, you're even more of an asshole than I remember," Pazima scoffed. "You want to play business? Fine. Here are my terms. You're going to call off every single one of your cronies in the Rebellion, and then you're going to die."

"Doesn't seem like I get much in return."

"You get to rot in Hell and not have to live with your miserable existence anymore."

Lorccan laughed, the same unnatural laugh he had used a week prior. "And how exactly do you plan to do this, Miss Reynard? I have twenty armored guards in there. Your sister said to bring my best men."

Pazima looked over Lorccan's shoulders, squinting her eyes. "Lottie?!" she called, and the docking bay opened. Lottie stepped out, her hood down and dragging a corpse of a guard behind her. Lorccan turned to see every single one of his guards dead and mutilated, blood running slowly onto the beach and onto Lottie as she left red footprints on the sand, her face and chest adorned with the red liquid.

"Charlotte Reynard," Lorccan commented, his voice measured and even as she deposited the guard at his feet. "You're uglier than I imagined."

"My tits are smaller too," Lottie replied, sticking her sword in the sand and leaning on it with her forearms. "We all have our strengths."

The guards flanking Lorccan grabbed their blasters, but Lottie was quicker, deflecting their blasts with a spin of her swords and deftly stepping behind Lorccan and stabbing them both in the heart, their dead bodies slipping to the ground as her swords were freshly cleansed with blood. 

"Give up, Lorc," she said, absentmindedly kicking the foot of the corpse. "You're outnumbered."

He reached for a blaster, but in a matter of seconds it flew out of his hand, along with the two others that had been holstered at his belt. They all landed in Luke Skywalker's palm, who walked confidently to join the sisters, adopting Lottie's signature smirk.

"Hey, Lorc," he said cheerfully, twirling the blaster in his hand. "Hafta say, these are nice."

"Wha-how-they're dead!"

"He's been training. With-" Pazima shrugged, looking back at the cabin. "A mutual friend of ours."

"She's retired."

"We're very convincing. And actually, so were you, when you captured one of her friends and held him hostage. Let's just say she was angry enough to teach our boy here a few things."

Enraged, Lorccan lunged at Pazima, but Wedge ran out from the cabin and punched him in the jaw, sending him stumbling back toward the ship.

"Who-wha-" he sputtered, wiping the blood from his mouth as he looked up at Wedge, who slung an arm around Pazima.

"Secret life of Wedge Antilles, Corellian Featherweight boxing champ." Wedge snickered at Lorccan's surprised face. "Come on now, you didn't know?"

"That's it, you little bitch." Lorccan spat at Pazima's face, and ran towards her, tentacles on the side of his head unleashing. Pazima didn't move, didn't even flinch as Lottie cut them off in two swift motions. Lorccan screamed and fell to his knees, holding the side of his head as Lottie knelt behind him, her sword at his throat.

"You're going to call off your troops in the Rebellion," she hissed in his ear. Pazima nodded, and Jax jogged out with his holocomputer and a large headset.

"Jax Collins," he said, dropping the holocomputer at his feet. "Call them off."

"Oh, and if you do anything besides that?" Pazima nodded at Jax, who pointed a crossbow at Lorccan. "Jax sticks an arrow in your eye."

Lorccan looked up at Jax, fear and anger visible in his face, and back at the computer, issuing a series of commands.

"Jax, it's looking legit," Lottie called. "Luke, come here and check."

Luke stepped behind Lottie, and looked up at Jax, nodding.

"It's done," Lorccan said. "You know, I would've done this for the right price."

"Yeah, but that's no fun, is it?" Pazima said, Jax taking the computer and Lottie releasing him from her grasp, Lorccan heaving on the ground as Lottie joined her sister. Wedge motioned for the other two men to step back as the sisters reached for blasters. "Now get up and face your death like a man."

"Why are you doing this?" Lorccan said, blood dripping from his head as he stood on shaky feet. The sisters stood back to back as they primed their blasters, aiming them at the ground and looking at Lorccan like a predator does prey.

"We're sending a message," Pazima said simply.

"What's your message?" Lorccan spat.

In simultaneous motions, the two women cocked black the blasters and aimed them at Lorccan's head.

"Don't fuck with the Fox," they chorused.

The blaster shots rang out and Lorccan Elwood fell to the ground, his body colliding with the bloody sands of the Fox Squadron's beach with a resounding thud.


	23. Chapter 23

"Don't fuck with the Fox," Paz snickered, sipping her ale as Lottie cooked in her apartment. "You know, it's been a month, and I'm still not over it."

"'Bout time we had a catchphrase," Lottie replied, handing Pazima a plate of food and sitting across from her.

"Where's Luke?" Pazima asked nonchalantly, digging into the stew. "You two are usually inseparable."

"Oh. He's out doing some sort of field assignment with Han, he told me not to wait up." Lottie shrugged, taking a swig of ale.

"They closed the shield doors."

"He might just be debriefing."

"You're really good at fooling yourself, Lot."

"Yeah, whatever. So, what's up? You said you had something to tell me."

"Mmm." Pazima daintily wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Yeah, I'm not just here to bum off of your cooking or ale. No, I um, I actually have some pretty important news."

Lottie raised her eyebrows. "Spit it out, Pazzy."

"I'm pregnant."

Lottie's stew dribbled from her mouth in shock, the redhead sputtering to find words. "I-Paz, oh my go-Why the hell are you drinking?"

"What?"

"That's, like, pregnancy rule number one, don't drink!" Lottie took the ale from her and downed the entirety of it in one go.

"I'm not quite sure that was healthy either," Pazima replied, laughing as her sister belched slightly.

"I'm alright, I have a high tolerance. But-Paz, this is wonderful news!" Lottie broke into a wide grin, taking her sister's hand. "You're gonna be a mum!"

"Yeah, I'm not so sure it's as great as you think, Lot." Pazima took her hand away from her sister's, rubbing at her temple. "You just proved it. I don't know the first thing about being a mum."

"Paz, I'm serious, this is fantastic. I can teach you all the...rough bits, you know, changing nappies, breastfeeding, all that."

"Wait. You breastfed that baby on the streets?"

Lottie looked at Pazima skeptically. "Do you seriously think a 10-year-old can breastfeed?"

"See? I don't know this stuff! And after the abortions at Helina, I'm not sure-"

"You'll be fine, trust me. Helina was a shit place, but at least they did their abortions right."

"And what about..." Pazima swallowed, finding it hard to carry on. "The drugs."

"How long have you been sober?"

"About a month and some change."

"And how far along are you?"

"26 days."

Lottie clapped her hands together, gesturing at Pazima's stomach. "You're fine. Who's the father, do you think?"

"Wedge. I'm sure of it."

"Pazima, do you realize how great this is? You can leave this place, Paz. This is your out."

"Wait...what do you mean? I was just gonna get rid of it-"

"Pazzy, listen to me. You can comm up Mama Collins, see if she's still on Palthos Prime. She loves us, she would take you in until you can get your own place, work as a mechanic and support your kid. I mean, come on, you and I both know I've been ready to do all of this by myself since I was fifteen."

"Yeah, I know, I just," Pazima huffed, rubbing her temple. "I'm gonna worry about you."

"You should be worrying about your baby now," Lottie scolded, glancing again at her stomach. "Pazzy, you realize how good this out is, right? No one gets one this clean."

"Yeah, I know." Pazima replied. "I'm just...I'm not ready to be a mother."

"You're thirty-one. You'll be a great mother, trust me. I mean, you raised me, right?"

"You're an alcoholic and smoke like a chimney."

"That wasn't necessarily your fault, but thank you for pointing out some of my many flaws anyways." Lottie rolled her eyes. "Look, I can visit as often as I can. I'll deliver the baby. Hell, I'll breastfeed the damn thing. Just...think about it. I mean, you and I both know how shitty it is to be pregnant on an army base."

"Yeah," Pazima replied, lost in thought.

"Listen," Lottie got up from the table, having finished her meal, and turned to the counter to clean up. "Stay here, think about it. Whatever you decide, tell Wedge before you do, okay?"

"He's just-"

"He has a right to know. I have to go do a debrief with the General."

"Oh, exciting."

"Hey, she's got like fifteen kids, maybe she has some-"

"I would rather gouge my own eyes out than ask  _her_ for pregnancy advice," Pazima sneered, making Lottie chuckle as she walked out of her apartment, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

"What's up, Rosalie?" Lottie said casually, plopping down on a plush office chair and swinging her legs over the armrests, lighting a cigarra.

Rosalie huffed, glancing at Lottie with disapproval. "How many times have I asked you to stop smoking in here, Officer Reynard?"

"I have a hearing problem. Cameras off?"

"Of course. Where's your shadow?"

"Hmm?" Lottie asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Luke. They just closed the shield doors and he's not attached to your hip yet. Should I be concerned?" Her pale eyebrows rose minutely, her smile simultaneously expressing victory and pride.

Lottie furrowed her brow, ignoring Rosalie's apparent triumph in wordplay and pulled out her comm, glancing at her messages. "Maybe, he hasn't commed me. I don't know. Probably just tired. I mean, it is 0300."

"Yes, I apologize for the time, I have a transport to catch."

"Nah, it's alright. Anyway. Debrief. Tralus. Don't say a word, or, well, you know."

"Yes. I'm going to Mandalore to spend some time with my family. Consider our partnership terminated. For now, of course."

"That sounds nice," Lottie commented, her voice genuine. "I wish I could take some time off from the war."

"Ah," Rosalie said, placing a file in her bag. "I never said that. Besides, your family is here."

"That's true," Lottie replied. "Well, I don't know for how much longer."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Probably shouldn't be talking about it. Anyway," Lottie pulled a lighter out of her bag, pushing it towards Rosalie's side of the desk. "Here."

"I'm not going to be taking up smoking anytime soon, if that's what you're trying to imply."

Lottie laughed lightly, taking a puff of her cigarra. "No, it's not-Consider it a favor. Whatever you need, whenever you need it, just flip the cap and comm that number."

Rosalie opened the lighter curiously, examining the top of it. "Why?"

"It's our...weird, twisted way of saying thank you," Lottie said, not raising her eyes to Rosalie but smiling at something on the ground. "You know, even with that stick up your ass, you were a big help back there."

"Thank you," Rosalie said, placing the lighter in her bag. "From you, I think that's the highest of compliments."

"No, I'm just too smug to not insult you while doing it."

Rosalie laughed, but then sombered, rubbing at the nape of her neck. "Hey, if you're ever on Mandalore, comm me. My husband and I would be happy to have you."

"Thanks, but I'm not sure how much you want me around your kids."

"Oh trust me, they have heard everything you could possibly say to them from their father."

"If I come, I'll put the cigarras away. If. And only for the kids." Lottie's comm beeped, diverting Lottie's attention from the General. She was halfway through reading it when she grabbed her bag from the floor, putting her cigarra out on Rosalie's desk.

"Hey!" Rosalie protested.

"Sorry, General, gotta go. Luke's in the med bay, he got attacked by a Wampa and spent the night out-shit." She tripped over a trash can on her way out, opening the door. "Bye, Rosalie, nice to meet you."

"Goodbye, Charlotte!"

 


	24. Interlude 8

_"Paz, please." Wedge spun in the chair of the beat-up Corellian freighter, putting his hands together. "Can't we try and find this chick from here?"_

_"Not with the two of us, we can't," the woman replied, slinging her duffel bag over her shoulder. "I'll be gone a year and a half, at most, okay? I know where to look."_

_"A year and a half?!" Wedge scoffed, standing up and grabbing Paz by the shoulders. "Paz. I don't want you back at that brothel," Wedge pleaded. "Okay? Please. For me."_

_"Listen, if I find her, I have to train her, and I don't even know if she speaks Basic, Wedge. Where she comes from, it's...different."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"I can't really decide if it was a cult or mafia or some sort of weird combination of the two."_

_"Sounds pleasant. I thought you said she died, though. I mean, who could've survived what the Empire did to that complex."_

_"I did too, until I saw that picture. Wedge, please." Pazima took his hands, holding them to her collarbone. "I'll comm you as soon as I get there, okay? If I don't find her within six months, I'll come straight back."_

_"You promise me, Pazima Reynard."_

_Pazima kissed him quickly, but full of passion. "I promise. I don't know how much I'll be able to comm, but if I come back, we'll have a friend."_

_Wedge laughed. "It's almost like we're adopting a kid."_

_"Yeah, you're telling me. Bye, Wedge."_

_"Bye, Paz."_

* * *

Three weeks in this shithole and I've already managed to overdose,  _Pazima thought, rubbing her eyes as she woke with a tube up her nose and her wrists shackled to the bed. She was in the dank, dark makeshift hospital at Helina, a place she found too close for comfort. She didn't even bother to try and escape the handcuffs, just swung her head._ _  
_

_Wedge was right. She should have never come back._

_"Sorry 'bout dis," a small, Coruscanti accent said, coming from the tattooed hands adjusting her IV. "Should 'ave been more...how do you say..."_

_"Careful?" Pazima supplied, her voice more irritated than she wanted to sound. "Listen, I'm fine, this certainly isn't the first-"_

_Her voice caught in her throat as she saw who exactly was treating her. A rat's nest of curly red hair the same shade as Todd's, skin as pale as milk, the jagged scar cutting into her left eyebrow and causing her hazel eye to go half-white. It was Nadezhda Dorchester, the same young girl she had seen sword dancing four years ago. She had changed, though. Pazima saw that clearly, her eyes were dark and tired and she was rail-thin. Pazima half-expected there to be grey roots at the girl's scalp._

_"You're not fine," Nadezhda said, stretching the skin around Pazima's eyes and shining a light in her pupils. "You're...unfine."_

_"Not fine is the correct one, Nadezhda." Pazima said. She couldn't stop smiling at her._

_"Yeah, well-'Ow do you know my name?" Nadezhda pulled her hands away._

_"My name is Pazima Reynard. Did your fathers tell you about me?"_

_Her stethoscope dropped in shock, the young girl's eyes wide in terror. "You have roses on your chest."_

_"Yes I do."_

_"You're beautiful."_

_"Thank you."_

_"You're-you're su'posed to tell me everythin'._ Parle bhfuil vu bhair'il _?" The Lower words were spoken in a hushed whisper. Pazima shook her head in response._

_"No, I'm sorry, I don't. I know Basic isn't your first language, but I promise, I can make you better at it. They called you Nadya, right?"_

_"Why did they kill 'em?" Nadya asked, her voice a mixture of fierce anger and childlike innocence. "Why?"_

_"Nadya, I don't know." Pazima took the girl's hands, examined the vine tattoos on them that showed her loyalty to the brothel. "I'm so sorry, I can't answer that. No one can. But," Pazima looked at the girl in her damaged eyes, rubbing her palms lightly, "I can help you take revenge. I can help you kill them. All you have to do is come away with me."_

_"I can't." Nadya shook her head, pulling her hands away and wiping them on a towel. "I 'ave a family here."_

_"I-I didn't know that. Listen, you don't have to leave them. But, your fathers did tell you you were born for something greater, yes?"_

_"Yes."_

_"This is it. You were born to take revenge on them."_

_"You knew they were gonna kill my family?"_

_"No. But I know who did. It was the Empire. Listen, Nadya, what if I told you that you...don't have parents? You're a miracle. They created you just to stop the Empire."_

_"But-" Nadya laughed humorlessly. "I'm-I'm just a dancer, I was supposed to be a wife."_

_"Listen. Stay here with your family if you want. Or, come away with me. You can send them your pay monthly. You wouldn't have to work in this hellhole. I can't explain everything about you here, but I can where we'll go. And, Nadya, we could be like sisters. You could have a new family."_

_"I don't want one," Nadya said, but her voice betrayed her. It shook with doubt and confusion._

_"Take a few days and think about it. You'll know where to find me."_

_"Nadya!" A superior called to the girl, and she turned her head in surprise. "Help me hold her down, will you? I can't perform an amputation while you're gossiping."_

_"Yessir. 'M sorry, sir." Nadya turned to Pazima quickly, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Give me a few days."_

_"Of course."_

_Pazima smiled as she watched the girl run to the doctor, her hair bouncing and her feet light. It was hard to picture her as a killer. Maybe it was just her, but it was like she had seen an angel. She saved her from an overdose. She was a bright, albeit scarred light, in the worst part of the world._

_She smiled, and closed her eyes. For once, the sun seemed to rise for Pazima Reynard, and it came in the form of Nadezhda Dorchester._


	25. Chapter 25

"Reynard." The head of the med ward, a Ho'Din woman, called to Lottie as wrapped a pilot's head with gauze. "A word?"

"Yes, ma'am," Lottie said, cleaning her hands of blood as she rushed to the imposing woman. "What is it, ma'am?"

"Go. Go see Skywalker," she whispered defeatedly, gesturing to a room in the back of the med bay which he occupied. She could barely make out the figures of Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa, both of whom seemed to be having an argument as Luke watched on.

"But, ma'am, I haven't-"

"I'm letting you early because you're good at what you do, Reynard. And you like him."

"Well, yeah, he's my roommate," Lottie said, a smile slowly spreading across her face. "Ma'am."

The Ho'Din shook her head, cocking her head to the back. "Go before I change my mind."

"Can I give you a hug?"

"Absolutely not."

"Of course, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am."

The Ho'Din turned to treat another patient, and Lottie beamed in delight, hugging her datapad close and squeezing her eyes shut.

* * *

"What was that I just saw with Leia?" Lottie said, eyebrow raised in amusement as she sauntered into Luke's med quarters.

"Lottie!" Luke said in surprise, Lottie dropping her facade as she rushed over and gave him a hug. "I thought you said you couldn't get off work till tomorrow. Too many other patients-"

"My boss let me off early," Lottie replied, throwing her arms around his neck again. "Oh my gods, you're an  _idiot._ "

"Yeah, well, at least I got a scar to best even yours."

"Oh, yeah, we'll see about that, Luke." She pulled up a chair and absentmindedly fiddled with the bacta salve on the medical ward's tray. "I'm being serious. What was that?" _  
_

"It was nothing. Leia making Han jealous."

"Oh, so you just helped out by making out with her," Lottie replied sarcastically.

"She made out with me, thank you very much."

"Was that your first kiss?"

"No."

"Don't lie to me, Skywalker, I see right through it."

"I'm not lying," Luke protested, Lottie laughing as his voice raised an octave. "You know, if I didn't know you so well, I'd say you were jealous."

Lottie groaned, rolling her eyes. "Who did you steal that from this time, Han or Wedge?"

"Wes, actually."

"Even better."

"But are you jealous?" Lottie slapped him across the chest, the faintest pink growing on her cheeks as Luke laughed in delight.

"You're flattering yourself. Who's your med?"

"Um, Ionla, I think her name was."

"She's an idiot." Lottie pulled out a herb from her scrub pocket, sprinkling it into the bacta salve, swirling it with her finger. "Here, try this, it'll work better."

"Thanks." Luke sighed, smile fading from his face as Lottie replaced the salve on the tray. "Hey Lot?"

"Mmm?"

"I have to tell you something."

"I knew it. You're pregnant. Who's the father?"

"Lottie," Luke scolded, looking at her in disbelief as she snickered, leaning back on her stool. "I'm being serious."

"Fine," she said, scooting towards the edge of his cot. "What is it you have to tell me?"

"I-I'm gonna...go away for a little while," Luke said lamely. "I don't really know how long. Maybe, five years. At most."

"Five years?!" Lottie said, her face torn between anger and disbelief. "That's hardly a little while."

"I know," Luke said defeatedly, shaking his head. "I'm sorry."

"What's so important that you have to go away for so long? And where  _exactly_ are you going?" Lottie grilled, folding her arms.

"Gods, I feel like I'm being interrogated," Luke joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Don't tempt me."

"It's called...Dagobah. I don't know what's there, except for this guy named Yoda. He's supposed to be a great Jedi warrior and he's gonna train me."

"Luke, you could stay with us and train," Lottie suggested. "I know I've been neglecting the sword stuff, but-"

"No, you haven't, Lottie. No, it's about more than that. It's...Force stuff, I guess." Luke shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright, I get it," Lottie said dejectedly. "Are you  _sure_ it's going to take five years?" she asked, her eyes growing wider.

"No, not really. I mean, it could be five days for all I know, but it's probably gonna take a while."

"Yeah."

"Hey, I have something for you though. To remember me by, if does take that long."

Lottie folded her arms. "You've been planning this without telling me?"

"No, not really. They were actually supposed to be your birthday gift but, plans changed. Reach under the cot, there's a box under there."

Lottie looked at him suspiciously, pulling the crudely wrapped box from under the bed. "What is it?"

"Just-open it, will you? Gods, you're impossible."

"I try." Lottie tore through the wrapping with a crooked smile, the paper falling to reveal a pale blue shoebox. She looked up at Luke for a brief moment, and then opened it.

Her smirk fell from her face. Inside were a pair of new, pale pink pointe ballet shoes. They were covered in shiny satin, the ribbons tied loosely in a bow. Lottie picked one up, looking at it in complete awe. They felt like the shoes she only dreamt of wearing, the ones that the professional dancers did and not the scruffy street ones. 

"Luke, I-"

"I hope you don't mind, I kind of stole your other ones to get the size. Hopefully they-"

Luke was cut off by Lottie throwing her arms around him, sobbing into his shoulder. Luke only laughed, rubbing her back between her shoulderblades as she buried her face in his neck.

"You like them?" he asked, wiping a tear from her eye as she nodded.

"They're beautiful," she choked. "I-I don't know how to pay you back-"

"They're a gift, Lot. You don't pay me back. Although, I think the fact that you don't have something witty to say is payback enough."

Lottie laughed, but she kept crying, wiping her tears with the back of her hand as she looked at the shoes.

"Hey, what's up?" Luke took the side of her head in his hands as she kept crying, wiping a tear with his thumb.

"It's-my fathers would have loved you. They always said I should look for someone who was kind, loving, who cared about me."

"Looking for what?" Luke said softly, but Lottie shook her head, swallowing and sniffling and trying to smile.

"Nevermind, it's too late now. Just-I wish that things could be different."

"Yeah, me too." They sat in silence for a moment until the room went red, the shrieking of alarm bells accompanied by yelling at the frantic running of feet.

"Shit," Lottie said, getting up. "They're here."

"How do you think they found us?" he asked, as Lottie packed everything in the box at a frantic pace, pushing the salve into Luke's chest.

"I have no idea. I-I have to get back to the Prophet."

Time slowed as Lottie approached the door, Luke getting up from the cot.

"I guess this is it," he said, fidgeting with his hands.

"I guess so," Lottie repeated.

"Gods, there's so many things I want to say," he sniffled, fighting tears forming in his eyes.

"Yeah, me too. I'm just, not much good at saying them."

Luke laughed, looking at anything but her. "You never did get Basic, did you?"

"Don't fink I ever will," she laughed, tears stinging anew in her eyes.

"Lottie, I-"

She cut him off and kissed him, her lips meeting his with a passion and a hunger Luke didn't know before, but an innocence that seemed strange for an assassin to possess.

Then again, it was Lottie.

After his initial shock, he placed a hand at her waist, not experienced enough to know where he should put it. What he did know was that this felt right, more right than anything he had ever felt before, and familiar. He would reminisce, later, that he wanted to kiss her a thousand times after just experiencing the one, but it was too little, too late.

They finally broke apart, foreheads touching as Lottie caught her breath, eyes closed.

"Luke, when you asked what I was looking for before, what my parents wanted me to find," She opened her eyes, giving him that damn crooked smile that he had seen a thousand times but never failed to make his stomach do flip flops, and broke apart. "It was that."

She hugged him one last time, holding him close as they both buried their faces into each other's shoulders, not wanting to admit to the fact that this very well may be the last time they see each other.

They only broke apart at Two-Onebee's metallic voice.

"Sir? Should you be getting dressed?"

"Right, yeah, I'll be there in a second," Luke replied, as Lottie held both of his hands, not willing to break contact with him yet. He turned to her, his voice fumbling for things to say. What should he say, to her? Lottie? "I should probably-"

"Yeah, no, go." Lottie said, her hands slipping away as she approached the door, smiling despite her eyes brimming with tears. "I'll see you around, Luke Skywalker."

"Try not to die while I'm gone, Charlotte Reynard."

And with one last, glorious laugh, Luke beheld her for the last time, holding the shoebox under her arms and sticking her hands in her pockets, running and darting to avoid the crowds, her red hair and her scars and her laugh and her smile and the way she smoked and the way she loved and the way she danced nothing now but a fond memory.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: violence.

Lottie ran into the white cockpit of the Prophet, dropping her beat up duffel bag into the middle of the floor, still carrying the shoes under her arm.

"What is that?" Lottie asked, pointing toward the drink Jax was sipping.

"Martini, dry, vodka triple shot, why?"

Lottie tore it from Jax's hands with no words and downed it in one sitting, only stopping to breathe after she had finished.

"Fine, bitch," Jax grumbled, as she took the ale already on the dashboard and cracked it open.

"Look," Lottie pointed, panting from the drink. "Look in the box."

Jax gave her a puzzled look, but shuffled in his chair until he got the box and opened it.

"Oh no," he said, looking up at Lottie as she continued to chug the ale. "He got you ballet shoes."

Lottie nodded, continuing to drink.

"How fucked are you?" he asked, as Lottie wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her shirt.

"Like, triple fucked." Lottie replied. "Do you have any more alcohol in here?"

"Lottie, I'm really not sure if that's-"

"I kissed him."

"Girl," Jax said, both appalled and amused. "You move fast."

"Hence the booze," Lottie replied, taking the shoes from him and moving to a kitchen, until Paz cut off her exit.

"Hey, sis! Where are you going?" She caught Lottie by the wrist and dragged her back to the cockpit, Lottie pouting.

"Look at what Luke got her," Jax said, relishing in Lottie's face as Pazima looked at the box.

Holding it in her hands, she looked up at Lottie. "You get back there right now and you fuck him."

"Excuse me?!"

"You get back there and you get in that damn X-Wing-"

"Pazzy," Lottie groaned, folding her arms as Paz and Jax exchanged gleeful looks. "I really don't think I have the time."

"Trust me, with him, it's not gonna last long." Jax and Paz exploded into laughter as Lottie rolled her eyes.

"Not funny, guys," Lottie said dejectedly.

"See, you need cheering up! Go."

"I don't need cheering up, I need a drink. And a smoke. Actually, both."

"That's alright, I gotta start the takeoff sequence anyway, takes me forever," Jax said, turning from Lottie and back to the dashboard. "Ajax, prep the thrusters."

"On it, sir."

"Ajax, do you think my sister should fuck Luke Skywalker?" Pazima asked, sniggering as Lottie put her in a headlock in no time.

"I have no comment on that matter, Pazima."

"Oh come on, Ajax-" She kept laughing hysterically as Lottie covered her mouth. "Oh, I'm sorry, Lottie," Pazima said, as her sister let her go. "At least you have a part of him. I mean, you know."

"Yeah, I guess I-shit." Lottie paced, running a hand through her hair.

"What?" Pazima asked, concerned.

"I forgot something. I'll be back."

"Lottie, we don't have-" Jax sighed as she took off, ignoring his call. "Time," he finished, turning to Pazima.

"I'll go after her. If we're not back in ten minutes, be worried." Pazima ran, trying to catch up with her sister.

"Whatever you say," Jax said, turning back to the dashboard.

* * *

"Lottie, what the hell?" Pazima panted, putting her hands on her knees as she finally caught up with Lottie in the latter's apartment. "You gonna make a pregnant woman run all this way?"

"I'm sorry, I-" Lottie sniffled, tears running down her face as she clutched a sketchpad to her chest. "I told him if he died I would take it."

"Oh, Lottie." Pazima wrapped her up in her arms as she sobbed, running a hand through her hair. "He's not gonna die."

"He's going away," Lottie said, pulling away from her sister. "He told me, he's going away to be a Jedi-"

Pazima sighed, pulling her sister to her again and swaying her back and forth as she weeped into her chest.

"Am I pathetic?" Lottie asked, looking up at her sister. "I feel pathetic."

"You're not pathetic, you're a kid in love," Pazima reassured her, pulling out tissues for Lottie to use. "Trust me, if the first girl I dated didn't comm me back within the hour, it was waterworks. You're no more pathetic than-"

"Freeze!" Lottie and Pazima turned to find two sharply dressed Imperial officers pointing blasters at them. "Hands up! Drop the pad!"

Lottie did so, both sisters raising their hands above their heads. 

"You got a knife?" Pazima muttered hurriedly, glancing at her sister. Both of them knew Pazima was in no state to be doing hand to hand combat.

"No, I never wear one with scrubs," Lottie hissed back. "Don't worry, I have a-"

"Quiet!" one of the guards yelled, jamming the blaster in Lottie's face. "Which one of you inhabits this room?"

"What?" Pazima said, feigning bewilderment.

"Don't pretend like you don't know, we heard you!" the other supplied. "Which one of you shares this room with Luke Skywalker?"

Lottie looked at the blaster inches from her sister's head, and her eyes glanced towards her stomach.

"I am," she said, stepping forward confidently, her voice sounding clearer than it should. The other guard grabbed her forearm roughly, making Lottie stumble into him.

"Lottie, no!" Pazima snapped, grabbing her hand, but the other guard slapped it away, jamming the blaster to her temple with such force it knocked her to the ground. Lottie winked at her sister, before turning to the guards with manufactured tears in her eyes.

"Please," Lottie begged, glancing at the guard. "I'll go with you, I'll do anything you want. It's me you want, not her."

"You're right," the guard said, and motioned toward his counterpart holding Pazima.

Lottie saw the laser shot before the blood. She hear her own scream before the sound of the gun. She felt the thud of her sister's body before she felt the tears fall on her sister's face, kneeling on the ground next to her sister's limp body.

"No, no, Pazzy, PAZZY!" Lottie screamed, cradling her sister's head in her arms. "No, no, no, no, no, please, please wake up, Paz, please." It couldn't be real, it  _wasn't_ , this was Pazima. She couldn't die like this, she was pregnant, she had a future now. 

"You bastards!" she spat, looking at the two guards. "You complete-"

"Oh, shut up," Pazima's killer growled, yanking her roughly from her sister's body and jamming the blaster until she stood upright. "Unfortunately, Vader wants you alive, or else you'd join her."

"No, please," Lottie pleaded, looking over her shoulder as the guards grabbed her forearms. The kitchen rug which Lottie had so carefully chosen was now splattered with her sister's blood. Luke's sketchpad lay at her feet, and her head touched the chair which she used to sit in, complaining about everything from music to films to boys. She used to offer Lottie the sage advice only a sister could offer there. She saw her right hip slightly from the curve of her shirt, right under where they had gotten matching tattoos without telling anyone. There were so many secrets, so many things just between them, and now they were gone. Pazima's beautiful arms lay open, one cradling her stomach. "She was pregnant," she said weakly, more to herself than to anyone else. That was gone, too, that perfect future of Wedge and Pazima together and Lottie the aunt. Lottie, taking care of her sister's child again. Practice for her own, she had thought. Not anymore.

"Alright, come on," the guard said, yanking the girl roughly out of the door.

"No," Lottie protested, fixating her eyes on her sister as she was dragged out of the apartment. "No. No, Pazima. PAZIMA!"

 


	27. Interlude 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> or: "Solsbury Hill"

_"Ready, little one?" Pazima slung her bag over her shoulder, ruffling Nadya's wild hair._

_It had taken the girl awhile to decide what to do, but after she had set up a mailing box for Nadya to send her family money, she knew Nadya would come with her. She was only twelve years old, but she wasn't stupid._

"Arien sudoigh," _Nadya replied, shrugging._

_"What does that mean?" Pazima asked, looking her up and down. It was a good thing they were leaving almost immediately, in no world would this girl pass as an elite of any sort._

_"Yes, I fink," she replied, scratching her head. "I'm no good at Basic."_

_"That's alright." She slung her arm over the girl's shoulders and began to walk with her down the dirty street. "I never was any good at languages."_

_"Neiver am I."_

_Pazima chuckled. "We've got to work on that accent, kid."_

_Nadya didn't reply. She was quiet, that one. Pazima wasn't used to quiet, not in a brothel with gossipy, chatty women, not in a Rebellion with pilots and war and gunfire. Quiet, she decided, would be a nice change of pace for her._

_She glanced at the buildings, some of them she remembered from forever ago. Specifically, Natalia's bar. She would never go back, couldn't. Not after what she did to her. Pazima desperately wished, for a moment, she had Nadya's eyes. Nadya's, however scarred, still childlike eyes. Still believing there was some good in this world. She kept walking. She couldn't get hung up on the past, that was how Wedge had found her, nearly slitting her own wrists. That was then, this was now. Now she had something to live for. However shy, Nadya was still a great big Something._

_"There it is," Pazima said, pointing toward the gilded, rotund elevator. "Our ticket to Alderaan. You're gonna need these."_

_Nadya scrunched her nose at the sunglasses, examining them back and forth. "What are these?"_

_"You're not gonna be used to the light out there. Trust me, if you don't want to go blind, put 'em on." Pazima put on her own sunglasses, and Nadya followed suit, gingerly putting them over her tiny button nose._

_"Where to, miss?" the bellhop said, taking a look at her and her passenger._

_"All the way up, please. For me and my sister." Pazima squeezed Nadya tighter, the girl marveling at her hand through the sunglasses._

_"That's'a hundred cred."_

_Pazima pulled the money out of her bag, looking to check she still had the spare for her hotel room. She smiled to herself when she noticed she had, closing the bag up._

_"Alright, hop on," he said reluctantly, Pazima nearly bounding into the elevator as Nadya took small steps, standing by Pazima's side._ _"Here we go, girls."_

_The elevator began to rise, and Nadya nearly stumbled, Pazima catching her by the armpits._

_"Woah, there, kiddo!" she replied, laughing and getting down on her knees to steady her._

_"Sorry. Too fast." Nadya held onto the railing as she looked out of the glass of the elevator, catching glimpses of the layers of underworld above them._

_And then, it happened. The dark world was cut by bright, beautiful, beaming rays of sunshine. They shone like nothing else, growing bigger until the two of them were enveloped in it, enveloped in the light._

_"Woah," Nadya marveled, spinning with her mouth wide open. "Is it dis...bright all da time?"_

_"Yeah," Pazima said, still on her knees. "This is what the rest of the galaxy sees."_

_Nadya nodded, the shock of her face growing into a smile as she basked in it. Pazima felt the warmth of the rays hit her face and smiled, closing her eyes and relishing in it. She missed it. Missed the sun. Missed the world._

_She was thrown out of her reverie by two arms flung around her shoulders and a head buried in her neck._

_"Fank you, Pazzy," the girl mumbled. "Is it okay if I call you that?"_

_"You can call me anything you want," her sister laughed, picking her up and swinging her up so she could sit on her shoulders. "Look at it, look at the sun, the light. Isn't it beautiful?"_

_"Beautiful. Yeah," Nadya agreed, turning her head and trying to see everything she could, trying to remember it all for later._

_"This is it, girls."_

_Pazima hesitated, her eyes focused on the door. It opened soundlessly, on its own, and Pazima's eyes grew sharply accustomed to the light._


	28. Chapter 28

Pazima would always say Jax was antsy, but eleven minutes had passed, and she had specifically said she would be back in ten. If there was one thing Paz wasn’t, it was late. She was a liar and a killer, but a punctual one. They would have to wrap up their argument soon, the base was literally collapsing.

“Ajax, I’ll be right back,” he said quickly, not bothering to stay for the AI’s response, hurrying out of the landing door of the Prophet and running down the hallway. He had assumed Lottie had gone back to her bunkroom, so that was the first place he looked. “Paz? Lottie?” He called, but got no response, only silence. He dodged a falling brick of snow, sliding up against the wall. As he made the turn into the barracks corridor, he heard no sounds, no high-pitched Coruscanti accent, no clear-toned Xuhiri, not even scurrying feet other than his own.

“Guys, what the-”

He stopped dead in his tracks when he reached the door to Lottie’s bunkroom, swung wide open. Time slowed to a near stop, and Jax could hear his own heart pounding out of his chest as he saw her.

Pazima Reynard lay dead, a blast wound straight in the middle of her forehead. She was newly dead; Jax had seen enough bodies in his lifetime to know that. Her almond eyes were wide in shock, her full lips parted just slightly. The small amount of blood traced from her forehead to the nape of her neck, and then disappeared into a red rose tattoo, as if the blood itself had colored it.

She was the most beautiful corpse Jax Collins would ever see.

He fell to his knees, too shocked to even say a word, even to cry, as he crawled to her side, wiping the blood off with his own finger. For a split second, he had a thought to call her about what he saw, to tell her to meet him in the lab, and they could work it out like they worked out all of their problems: logically and cooly.

It was then he saw the sketchpad at Pazima’s feet. It was Luke’s. That was what Lottie went back for, the sketchpad. The fucking sketchpad. Jax couldn't help but marvel at her devotion.

 _Devotion._ The word hit him with a pang. Lottie would never leave her family, leave Pazima like this if she had a choice.

“Lottie?” he called, his voice cracking. He knew that he would have heard that silence. His brain began to picture her, shot like Pazima, lying dead, scars and all, that stupid cocky grin on her face, but he instantly pushed that image out of his mind, and forced himself to focus on getting Pazima back to the Prophet.

He picked her up, her arms and legs lying limp in her arms, and began walking back to the hangar. He walked slowly, his mind hazy and fuzzy and not really focusing on anything. His arms almost felt numb to Paz’s cold body, as if he was carrying nothing. It was only when he laid her body down on the white floor of the training room that it really hit him. The color had drained and she was there, dead. She was actually dead.

Jax broke down, sobbing into her abdomen, her shirt ticklish and scratching against his smooth cheek. He clutched it, as if trying to hold onto her, to have some part of her real, and alive again. He sobbed for an eternity, until he tasted the salt of his own tears in his mouth and until he realized that he needed to call someone, anyone, to tell them what happened. He dialed Luke’s comm number hazily into his comm, his tears still falling freely down his face.

There was no response. “Pick up, you lazy-” Jax hissed, dialing the number angrily again, but it still left complete static. He snarled, cussing at Luke, and then tried Wedge, who picked up on the second ring.

“Jax, mate, thank the gods you called-”

“Paz,” he blubbered, not bothering with a hello. “Wedge, she’s-she’s-” He couldn’t make out the words, the monosyllable dead stopped straight in his throat. It felt like the biggest lie he had ever told, even if she was lying there motionless right in front of him.

“What’s up?” Wedge’s voice was sobered, sympathetic.

“She’s gone,” Jax finally managed. The word gone brought on a fresh onslaught of tears. Jax gave up and lay, the back of his head on her abdomen as he wept.

“What do you mean, she’s gone?” Wedge spat, his voice rising. “That better not mean what I think it means.”

“It does,” Jax responded, barely able to say anything else.

“No. No. This isn’t happening,” Wedge moaned. “No, not today, not today, please not today. Jax, you tell me my Lottie is there with you.”

Jax shook his head, even though he knew Wedge couldn’t see it. “I don’t know, Wedge. They took her. I don’t know where she is.”

“Oh fuck, fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck,” Wedge responded. “You’re bullshitting me. This is some elaborate prank and-”

“I wish,” Jax sniffed, cutting him off. “I wish it was, Wedge.”

“You realize what else happened today, huh? Luke isn’t at the rendezvous point, Jax.”

“Oh, no,” Jax wheezed. “No, he’s got to be.”

“He’s not, Jax. It’s just us.”

Wedge’s words, choppy from the comm call, sent Jax reeling, and he shut the comm off, flinging it to the other side of the room. He turned, and the tears stopped all of a sudden, and he just felt cold, the coldest he had ever felt, even on Hoth.

“Send us to the rendezvous point, Ajax,” he said emotionlessly. “Autopilot.”

“Yessir,” the metallic voice responded, softer than usual. “Jax?”

“Yeah?”

“Is there anything else I can do?”

Jax breathed heavily, turning to look at Pazima Reynard’s angelic face. He reached up and shut her eyelids closed. In some part of his mind, it gave him relief, to see her there as if in sleep. He moved his head and laid down next to her, curling up in the same position, holding his companion’s cold hand in his own.

“No, Ajax,” he whispered, his voice hollow and empty. “Not this time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE FOX SQUAD WILL RETURN IN
> 
> "PILEDRIVER WALTZ"


End file.
